Increasingly the latter would be the more likely answer. In 2023, Microsoft Teams had over 320 million active monthly users.

UC platforms are something that many knowledge workers now take for granted – especially younger workers who have never known anything different. But the impact that UC tools have on organisations goes far beyond simply sending and receiving messages.

The digital transformation that UC platforms represent is a profound opportunity for organisations to connect, collaborate and harness the full potential of data-driven intelligence and digital innovation to empower workforces and drive business growth.

In a hyperconnected world, businesses that are more agile and efficient, grow and compete in the future. UC platforms are vital to this transformation.

Instant communication

If you have ever watched ‘Mad Men’ – the drama series that follows the misadventures of ad man Don Draper in the 1960s – you will have seen the ‘typing pool’. A group of workers busily typing messages, memos and letters.

If you wanted to send a letter, you had to write it out, send it to the typing pool and it’ll then be sent out. That could take anywhere between a few hours to a few days.

Now compare that to the present day. You can send a message to everyone in the company in seconds, attaching relevant materials and data to ensure that tasks and requests are easily and quickly shared between colleagues and even whole teams.

Not only that but you can make, calls – voice or video – with low latency to anyone in the world instantly. You can host tens, hundreds, even thousands of people on conference bridge to help disseminate information or just bring teams together.

But what does this mean for your workforce?

By being quickly and easily communicate with each other, sharing key information, assigning tasks and delegating work can be done more easily now than ever before. By drastically increasing personal productivity businesses can benefit from greater revenue growth and increased business value.

As organisations have become more global, employee expectations have changed, and UC platforms have become critical to business success. A distributed workforce needs

collaboration applications, voice connectivity and fast and easy access to data to enable them to work together seamlessly with reduced digital friction.

The enablement of off-net calling on the UC application allows employees to connect seamlessly with their stakeholders. This feature offers a dual-persona capability, providing employees with an office number dedicated to official communications. Additionally, it ensures enterprise continuity by allowing the reassignment of the number to a successor when an employee departs. This system also facilitates the monitoring and management of calls made through the application.

UC platforms also offer analytics tools that can help teams track communication patterns, identify bottlenecks, and optimize processes to ensure business processes run efficiently.

Seamless collaboration

So your teams can talk to each other; wherever, whenever. But they still need to be able to work together to be able to be truly productive and deliver business value. UC platforms, via the cloud, allow organisations to share files and information and then collaborate on them simultaneously.

Maybe your team is working on a proposal for a new client. You have a distributed team of remote workers. Enabling them to work together in one place in real-time gives them the chance to work as if they are all in the same room, share ideas in real time, create additional value and give you a competitive advantage.

“Not only does UC improve productivity but by being able to collaborate greatly improves the employee experience leading to higher levels of employee satisfaction and engagement. With an integrated employee experience, employee satisfaction increases by up to 10%.”

Beyond simply collaboration with colleagues UC platforms also have a direct impact on customer experiences. Employees collaborating on workstreams drive greater creativity and create additional value for customers and partners. In fact, an IDC survey confirmed that an improved employee experience and higher employee engagement translate to a better customer experience, higher customer satisfaction, and higher revenues for their organisation.

In a world where workforces are increasingly distributed, UC platforms play a crucial role in connecting people and bringing them closer together creating a happier workplace, doing better, more productive work.

Unlocking data

For many of us, when we think about data, we think about a spreadsheet full of numbers. While this is certainly part of it, it is far from the whole picture.

Data held by businesses can come in any forms. When used and managed correctly, data can help to unlock new value, improve customer experience, and drive new business models.

Being able to access the information about that customer is very important. If we think about a service agent receiving a call from a customer, if that customer’s data is in a silo and cannot be accessed, the interaction breaks down. Either the service agent is unable to deal with the query in the most efficient and effective way or they may not be able to deal with it at all.

This results in a less-than-optimal experience for the customer and the service agent.

Now, if they are able to access all the customer’s information, the agent can respond accurately to questions and queries and suggest the best solution resulting in happy customer.

UC also helps to create additional value. Think about your sales team. They may deal with plenty of inbound calls, but can they help solve customers’ future problems or recommend better solutions for their current ones. By unlocking the power of accessible data, teams can pre-emptively recommend changes to services to better suit your customers’ needs, not only increasing revenue but improving customer satisfaction.

As workforces become more distributed either through hybrid working patterns or through more international teams, having a UC platform becomes as critical as having email.

These platforms require a hyperconnected network to ensure that workers have access to the tools we now take for granted. Being able to weave together all the aspects of a UC platform requires a hyperconnected ecosystem powered by global networks and digital fabric technology. With this, employees can be more productive with a better experience and customers receive a better service resulting in improved businesses performance.

Find out about our Unified Communications and Collaboration platform.

The post Bridging Continents: How Global Collaboration Empowers Workforces appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

This transformation isn’t isolated; it’s part of a larger narrative of interconnected devices and seamless integration, empowered by the advancements in IoT, high-speed connectivity, and immersive experiences.

As Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are on the rise, industries across the board will generate a massive amount of data (almost 180 zettabytes by 2025) and require on-site processing to ensure real-time decision making and user experience.

So, how can businesses effectively manage this influx of data? The answer lies in edge computing.

Understanding edge computing

Did you know that by 2025, 75% of data generated by enterprises won’t be processed in traditional data centres? Edge computing has flipped the script on traditional data processing. Instead of following the old paradigm of sending everything to distant servers, it brings processing power right to the source. But how does it achieve this? By strategically positioning mini “data centres,” or edge nodes, at the network’s periphery. These nodes are equipped with processing power, storage, and networking capabilities that are ready to handle tasks with more efficiency and agility. 

But why does this matter?

• With data processing happening nearby, there’s no need to wait for it to make a round trip. Whether it’s parsing sensor data or delivering immersive augmented reality experiences, edge computing ensures instantaneous actions based on the most up-to-date data available.
• Moreover, edge computing enhances system resilience by distributing processing tasks across multiple edge nodes. This reduces the risk of single points of failure, ensuring continuity of operations even during network disruptions or outages. Devices can function autonomously, processing data locally without reliance on central infrastructure.
• Finally, edge computing optimises bandwidth usage, reducing network traffic and costs. By processing data locally, only relevant information is transmitted, resulting in lower bandwidth consumption and improved cost efficiency. Plus, edge nodes can be scaled up or down as needed, ensuring optimal resource utilisation and cost management.

But, as always, there are some challenges that we need to overcome:

• Device management: In edge computing, the number of devices operating at the network’s edge is exponentially higher than in traditional cloud computing setups. Managing this vast array of devices, each potentially running different software and operating systems, is a formidable challenge.
• Data security and privacy: The decentralised nature of edge computing introduces unique security challenges. Data is processed and stored across numerous edge devices, expanding the attack surface for potential breaches.
• Interoperability: Edge computing environments are often heterogeneous, comprising devices and systems from multiple vendors that need to communicate seamlessly. Achieving interoperability in such a diverse ecosystem is challenging but essential for harnessing the full potential of edge computing.
• Technical expertise: Deploying and managing edge computing infrastructure requires a new set of skills, which demand additional training or hiring of specialised personnel.

That’s where Tata Communications CloudLyte steps in. It’s an edge compute, orchestration and management platform that simplifies device management, bolsters data security, and ensures interoperability across various devices and networks.

How Tata Communications CloudLyte can accelerate your ‘edge’ journey 

Tata Communications CloudLyte stands at the forefront of edge computing with its infrastructure and cloud-agnostic architecture. This means that our edge orchestration platform seamlessly integrates across various infrastructure and cloud environments, providing businesses with unparalleled flexibility and compatibility.

It’s a multi-access edge platform, that caters to a wide array of access networks, including 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E, cellular networks, long-range wide area networks (LoRaWAN), and software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN). Its innovative architecture facilitates seamless deployment and management of applications across diverse environments, ensuring optimal efficiency and scalability.

But what truly sets Tata Communications CloudLyte apart?

• It’s a comprehensive solution that provides edge infrastructure, platform, network, and industry leading use cases bundled into a unified offering with near zero downtime assurance.
• It extends the cloud experience at the edge with centralised orchestration, streamlined deployment with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) and machine learning operations (MLOps), and expert management services.
• It enables you to harness the power of no-code data connectors, low-code extract, transform, load (ETL) pipelines with AI based inferencing and auto scaling at the edge.
• It offers built-in security with a zero-trust architecture, policy enforcement, container runtime, and layered perimeter security. You can deploy applications with confidence, knowing that your data is protected against evolving cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
• It provides expertly managed platform services right from day 0, ensuring seamless operations and optimal performance. From infrastructure management to network optimisation, our team of experts is committed to supporting your business every step of the way.
• Through its robust partner ecosystem, you have access to specialised solutions and expertise, accelerating your edge computing journey and unlocking new growth opportunities.

Tata Communications CloudLyte across industries

Amidst the buzz surrounding edge computing, one often encounters lofty discussions about its potential in revolutionising industries like transportation, manufacturing, and retail etc. Let’s explore how Tata Communications CloudLyte can drive innovation across various sectors:

• Manufacturing: Embrace the next generation of manufacturing with our solution, where Industry 4.0 is reshaping processes and results through innovative technology. From quality control, streamlined production diagnostics, advanced warehouse automation to enhanced worker safety we have got you covered. Process sensor data on-site, providing real-time insights into machinery performance. You can pre-emptively identify issues, reduce maintenance costs, and ensure uninterrupted operational efficiency.
• Retail: Elevate the in-store shopping experience in retail by enabling real-time data analysis, personalised interactions, and immersive technologies. By analysing customer’s data locally, Tata Communications CloudLyte delivers personalised recommendations and promotions, boosting customer engagement and driving sales. Moreover, with our ‘store in a box’ capability, we offer a pre-packaged, use case-led solution that encompasses everything from point-of-sale (POS) systems to store fixtures, lighting, and even branding elements. This comprehensive solution allows retailers to streamline their operations, reducing the need for extensive intervention while expediting their processes effectively.
• Banking: Tata Communications CloudLyte offers an “ATM in a box” or “Branch in a box” solution, integrating real-time video analytics for enhanced surveillance, combining money dispensing software for ATMs and local branch applications bundled with SD-WAN technology resulting in strict policies on data traffic, enhancing security and compliance measures.
• Automotive: As we drive into the future of self-assisted car solutions. Local data processing allows your vehicles to offer customised entertainment, seamless interaction with other vehicles and infrastructure, and prompt software updates. Tata Communications CloudLyte can process the real-time data and provide analytics to enhance driver assistance systems, offering features like collision detection, lane departure warnings, and adaptive cruise control. These innovations not only elevate driving safety for everyone on the road but also mark a significant leap in automotive technology.
• Energy: Optimise your facility’s energy consumption and environmental conditions in real-time with Tata Communications CloudLyte. It mitigates environmental impact and contributes to carbon footprint reduction by collecting and processing data directly from sensors and devices at your location, allowing you to make immediate adjustments, enhancing efficiency and reducing waste. This not only leads to significant energy and cost savings but also minimises your environmental impact, tailoring energy management to your specific needs with precision and responsiveness.

Gain the undisputed ‘edge’ advantage with Tata Communications CloudLyte’s end-to-end solutions

Whether you’re a manufacturer striving for peak efficiency and output or seeking to prevent downtime through early machine breakdown detection, a retailer looking to boost customer satisfaction, or an automaker committed to improving driving experiences, Tata Communications CloudLyte is your go-to solution for all critical business use cases.

Our comprehensive edge solution suite takes charge of your data from the moment it is generated at the edge of your network, managing it until you derive valuable business insights. This transformative approach ensures that with Tata Communications CloudLyte, you are not just keeping pace with industry standards, but are setting them.

Edge is not just about positioning mini ‘data centers’ and ‘managing influx of data’ but there are silos of compute already existing in consumer location. These silos need individual end-end management of space, power, upkeep, upgrade and not to mention the presence of multiple failure points.

Orchestrating them under a single umbrella to optimise the infrastructure and management – bringing Cloud to the edge is what Tata Communications CloudLyte achieves.

With Tata Communications as your strategic partner, you can improve your operational efficiency, elevate your customer experience, and reduce your infrastructure footprint. And CloudLyte can drive boundless possibilities towards the edge for greater innovation and growth. To optimise the potential of Tata Communications CloudLyte for your business and explore its comprehensive features, please visit our website. For a deeper understanding of CloudLyte’s capabilities and how it can specifically benefit your operations, our detailed point-of-view paper is readily available for you to access here.

The post Tata Communications CloudLyte: real-time data meets the cutting ‘edge’ appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Think like a customer  

In digital intervention projects, a customer becomes our partner from challenge identification to the solution qualification stage. So, the experience is not limited to the product or service quality or brand image, it is determined by the level of engagement and agility in support throughout the process of implementation and operationalisation. When we collaborate with the customer to co-create, we become an integral part of the cultural shift at the customer’s

end. The journey does not end there, but it continues working closely with the customer and walking side by side, to help in attaining their business sustainable goals. Our Connected Worker suite of solutions enhances workplace safety and efficiency ensuring business continuity. Ensuring customer delight means we achieve our goal of enhanced workplace safety and efficiency. Successful implementation of approximately 170,000 devices across 40+ locations, managing end-to-end operations and services has been possible by being an integral part of the customer’s vision. 

 Learn and solve problems on the go with effective communication

Scaled IoT projects across enterprises are still limited to ‘innovators’ and ‘early adopters’ types of organisations. Recently, we noticed wider adoption from the ‘early majority’ group as well. We learned from experience that partnering with the customer is inevitable for any core digital intervention to better understand the domain first. In such a scenario, product, solution, or approach agility is inevitable. So as partners, open feedback and a challenger advocacy approach are vital. Open and informed decisions, agility, and reengineering readiness are some of the ingredients of customer delight. We deliver a comprehensive IoT stack from Infra to devices to software and managed services, and have experienced initial challenges on solution fitment, however regular feedback from customers and a proactive approach have helped increase the value of our services, which reinforces customers’ faith in us. For instance, in a few of our initial proof-of-concept deployments, we had to reengineer our solutions to ensure the desired outcome. We stood with the customer and took a stance of reengineering and an alternative solution approach. While it was an additional investment, we stayed the course and now we have happy customers and long-term business partners!      

Provide insights for business decisions

Industry leaders are using IoT as a decision-making tool. Integration of IoT, AI, and ML is making processes smarter helping in business decisions and strategy formulation. Integration brings actionable data and data-driven insights & analytics which vary for every use case. Different industries may adopt the same solution at the basic level, but the derived value will be always different. For example, Heavy manufacturing and pharma-related enterprises may adopt the same solution for employee safety and productivity but the former may prioritise the value generated from the use-case of instant alerts during safety anomalies and the latter may be more concerned about identifying zone movements and entry/ exit data. As such, the same solution supports different analytics and algorithms for different needs. This need demands an industry-focused approach and agility in handling personalisation to enhance customer experience and delight.  

Win as a collaborator

When we work as an ecosystem enabler, there is bound to be a change management request from the users as technology continues to evolve and so does any IoT solution implementation. We need to factor in all change management (tech advancement) to enhance the business value of the solution and more importantly to build trust, which is a long-term business gain. As we enhance service levels, customer expectations are bound to increase. We need lots of solutions and design rework even after the project goes live, adding additional effort to the business case. However, in the long term, we will gain from learning the lateral solution dimension, winning trust as partners, and retaining, and adding a referral base of customers. Business viability and growth checks must consider the long-term mutual win.  

Customer delight needs 360-degree self-evaluation, be it on engagement level, proactive solution approach, effective communication, service quality assurance, support agility, or business-driven analytics. Collaboration for a long-term win is not about technology partnership alone but rather about partners joining hands to drive cultural change and change the status quo. 

Find out more about our Connected Worker solutions.

The post Elevating customer delight in the IoT industry  appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The concept of Know Your Customer (KYC) dates to the early 1990s. KYC involves procedures to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with customers. Document and picture capturing used to be completely manual, with a lot of back-office work. ​This resulted in processes being extremely slow and backlogs being created, which had a significant impact on institutions which heavily relied on KYC for vetting customers.​

Through digital transformation, the KYC process has evolved to become more robust and sophisticated. Moving away from a paper-based approach and embracing a digital-first approach resulted in biometric verification, AI and ML based document verification and other innovations drastically decreasing the time required to conduct a KYC check for customers. ​

The most noteworthy impact of eKYC, perhaps even more than the enhanced customer experience and convenience, is the greatly improved security that the eKYC process affords. With identity proofing through customer unique document and knowledge possession (two factor authentication) and biometric authentication, KYC has never been more secure. In the past, KYC processes were often standalone procedures that were conducted separately from other business processes. Today, many businesses are integrating their KYC processes with their overall risk management strategies.

Understanding MVNOs

Before delving into the specifics of eKYC and digital onboarding, it’s important to understand the MVNO landscape. MVNOs are companies or entities that provide wireless communication services without owning the physical infrastructure of a mobile network. Instead, they lease network access and services from existing mobile network operators (MNOs) to help businesses launch their mobile services. From traditional mobile services to IoT and eSIM based services, today’s MVNOs are looking to offer differentiated customer experiences to serve the changing needs of the customers. They are often known for offering competitive pricing, specialized plans, and flexible services to niche markets.

The Need for Efficient Onboarding

With the growing need for secure remote onboarding and eSIM activation services, efficient customer onboarding has become critical for MVNOs success for several reasons:

• Competitive Advantage: In a highly competitive market, MVNOs need to differentiate themselves by offering a seamless and user-friendly onboarding experience.
• Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with regulations, including anti-money laundering, identity verification and data protection, is paramount in this industry.
• Cost Reduction: Streamlining the onboarding process reduces operational costs and allows MVNOs to focus on growth.

eKYC: The Game-Changer

Electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) is a technology-driven process that enables businesses to verify the identity of their customers digitally. For MVNOs, eKYC offers several key benefits:

• Swift Verification: eKYC enables real-time identity verification, reducing the time it takes to onboard a new customer. This speed is crucial in attracting and retaining customers in today’s fast-paced world.
• Enhanced Security: Digital identity verification is more secure than traditional paper-based methods. It helps MVNOs protect against fraud and ensures that only legitimate customers gain access to their services.
• Compliance: eKYC solutions can be tailored to meet regulatory requirements, helping MVNOs stay in compliance with data protection and telecom regulations.
• Convenience: Customers appreciate the convenience of digital onboarding, eliminating the need to visit physical stores or submit paper documents.

How MVNOs can enhance customer onboarding experience

As the telecommunications industry continues to evolve, MVNOs that embrace eKYC and digital onboarding will gain a competitive edge. By offering a frictionless onboarding experience, MVNOs can attract and retain customers more effectively, comply with regulations, and reduce operational costs.

Implementing digital onboarding with eKYC involves several key steps:

• Customer Registration: Prospective customers provide their information online.
• Document Verification: Customers upload identity documents (e.g., passport, driver’s license), which are then verified electronically.
• Biometric Verification: Facial recognition and biometric data can be used to further validate the customer’s identity.
• Background Checks: MVNOs can conduct background checks to assess the creditworthiness of customers.
• SIM Card Activation: Once verified, customers can receive their SIM cards and activate their services digitally.

However, it is important that MVNOs find the right eKYC partner — as local regulations are fragmented and vary in each country. Not all providers have “one-size fits all” solution to fulfil all KYC requirements.

Introducing Tata Communications MOVE eKYC Hub

Given the relevance and importance of eKYC, Tata Communications provides eKYC Hub for global coverage and ease of integration. Part of the Tata Communications MOVE^TM portfolio, the eKYC Hub makes the identification and verification process as easy as capturing ID image and taking a selfie, supported by pre-defined workflows and business processes. The eKYC HUB makes sure that the clients/customer are who they claim to be.

An MVNO can leverage eKYC Hub single interface to offer global eKYC coverage for its local and/or global use cases. With ease of integration, an MVNO can focus on customer experience and deliver a unified global experience.

Customers can get onboarded in a few simple steps from anywhere in the world.

In an era where digital transformation is reshaping industries, MVNOs cannot afford to overlook the importance of efficient onboarding processes. eKYC and digital onboarding simplify the customer acquisition process, while ensuring security and compliance. By harnessing these technologies, MVNOs can position themselves for success in an increasingly competitive market.

To learn more about how Tata Communications is helping drive mobile-enabled IoT and MVNO growth, click here.

The post eKYC: Enabling Frictionless Subscriber Onboarding for MVNOs appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In this insightful blog, Karmanie Naidoo, CEO of MMD Mobility and IoT together with its sister company MVNO Worx in South Africa, speaks about IoT Technology, the growing role of MVNOs, and the company’s intention to pillar these with the Tata Communications MOVE platform.

According to GSMA Intelligence the IoT market in Africa is experiencing rapid growth, with connections set to double over US$1 billion by 2025. Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will also see many IoT applications around smart city solutions, connected cars, fleet management, irrigation, agriculture and logistics & supply chain aimed to improve the quality of living. Delivering near ubiquitous connectivity, cellular technology will be a key feature in African IoT implementations and the role of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will become increasingly important.

A McKinsey paper states, “the latest evolutionary wave is seeing MVNOs capture 10 to 40 percent of mobile business in developed markets”. With the appropriate regulatory environment and access to infrastructure, MVNOs in emerging markets like Africa can be steered in the same direction.

An innovative offering, MVNOs don’t own physical network infrastructure; they lease network from larger mobile network operators (MNOs). With no requirement to invest significant amounts in capital assets, MVNOs can focus on customer experience by offering highly targeted services and pricing packages.  In addition, with a strong infrastructure framework, MVNOs can provide a wide variety of services to their niche customer bases, as compared to traditional service providers.

“Accelerated by eSIM and 5G technologies, MVNOs can unlock exciting opportunities for small enterprises and entrepreneurs to tap into Web 3.0, AI technologies and Internet of Things.”

Apart from voice, data, and SMS solutions, MVNOs can play a big role in mobile-money services as well, enabling e-payments and micro-finance which are specifically useful for rural population in Africa who may have limited access to traditional financial institutions.

Connecting people and devices while achieving the forecasted growth requires not just access to a cellular network, but also access to a stable and feature rich Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) service platform. Up until now, cost barriers, complex access agreements and the absence of a suitable back-office platform that enables automated service activation, fast customer onboarding and enhanced time to market for MVNOs has stood in the way of service integration and investment.

Overcoming these hurdles will be critical for the viability of MVNO market in Africa and that is what drives us at MMD Mobility & IoT. In our role as Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE), we have joined forces with Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler operating in over 190 regions and territories. Our aim is to provide an agile & flexible infrastructure backbone across Africa and create the right value propositions to cater to the multi-tier, multi-functional, cross border needs of MVNOs and IoT based enterprises.

“We chose the cloud based, fully automated, API enabled Tata Communications MOVE MVNE platform to deliver high-quality mobile connectivity and enhanced experience for MVNOs accessing and implementing voice, data, and SMS applications for their subscribers, and enterprises to create a foundation for innovative IoT implementations.”

As the McKinsey paper points out “winning MVNOs minimise costs by selecting the right mobile virtual network enablers to assist with key operations, such as billing and administration. Enablers can be critical – especially for small, new MVNOs – making it easier for them to roll out their businesses without excessive up-front investments.” Our agreement with Tata Communications has taken that dynamic fully into consideration. Pay-as-you-go terms will enable MVNOs of all sizes to cost effectively deliver new mobile services without making up-front investments in service management or their own mobile infrastructures.

Moreover, Tata Communications MOVE platform enables us to offer MVNOs convenient service set-up and configuration with reduced deployment times, operational flexibility to manage an array of services, and better responsiveness to adapt to market needs, such as, eSIM, iSIM and 5G technology.

“Working with Tata Communications will facilitate MMD to become the partner of choice for businesses and MVNOs that aim to introduce new solutions and ways to engage with their customers beyond SIM cards and boost operational efficiencies through next-generation digital applications.”

Businesses’ IoT ambitions in Africa tend to be constrained by the structure of mobile network licencing, variable connectivity and lack of reliable infrastructure. Through our partnership with Tata Communications, we plan to turn that situation around. Tata Communications’ tie-up with 600+ leading regional and global MNOs will enable us to provide fast and reliable connectivity for MVNOs and IoT enterprises to access new markets and operate across international borders like never before. On the back of this, MMD will soon be showcasing proof-of-concepts on IoT, particularly in the automotive, agriculture, and transport & logistics sectors.

Finally, the partnership will give us the flexibility to support new services and generate new revenue streams by extending our customers’ geographical reach beyond the African continent to serve new opportunities. Harnessing the power of Tata Communications MOVE will open the floodgates for mobile and IoT innovation, not only in Africa but also across the world.

To learn more about Tata Communications MOVE, click here. 

The post Driving mobile-enabled IoT and MVNO growth in Africa appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In this topical blog, Jignesh Dave, Founder and CEO of Next360 in South Africa, explains his strategy of using the Tata Communications MOVE platform to customise travellers’ mobile services – ready for use in their destination country – even before they board their planes.

Travel and tourism looks set for a resurgence as the pandemic seems likely to recede while the UK-India Free Trade Agreement – The UK’s Strategic Approach  observed Indians are the second largest international student population in the UK. With the Indian government aiming to create a trillion-dollar online economy by 2025, the free trade agreement offers an opportunity for British and Indian businesses to launch joint tech ventures.

Against that background and the movement of people implied, Next360 chose to address this opportunity through NextCellular, our mobile services subsidiary which runs a multi country MVNO operation, with its global headquarters in South Africa, offering seamless connectivity, with capability to provide both eSIM & Plastic SIM cards in other parts of the world.

Tata Communications MOVE ensures global reach and unparalleled scalability

Our company has network capabilities in 31 countries including three continents, and a distribution footprint in India, the UK, and South Africa – along with expansion plans for south-east Asia. To streamline mobile comms for those coming from India, South Africa, and other growth economies, our vision is to make it simple for those global travellers by providing roam-free connectivity with distribution at the core. It’s enormously convenient for such worldwide citizens to have a SIM card local to the target country before traveling.

“Through NextCellular, we teamed up with Tata Communications to take advantage of its Tata Communications MOVE SIM Connect platform. It offers scalability and global reach across multiple countries through agreements with over 600 mobile network operators (MNOs) in 190 countries and territories.”

Our intent is first to offer people seamless connectivity when they’re travelling. Second, it’s to explore and evaluate potential markets so that we can, in effect, turn airtime into a currency and create more value for our customers by offering them both roam free connectivity and digital banking.

The third thrust is to create a powerful Infrastructure, which would turn our cellular ecosystem into an Uber of telecommunications by offering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to airlines, destination management companies, tour operators, travel insurance companies in the business segment, and players like financial services providers, last mile retailers or micro-lenders in the domestic business segment.

Complementary technology and marketing strengths

As well as using that ecosystem to spool bandwidth, the Tata Communications MOVE platform offers: (1) BYON (bring your own network) functionality; (2) enabling facilities including core network and BSS (business support system); and (3) branded SIMs to make it easy for new partners to join and make use of Next360 IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service).

Tata Communications also brings network aggregation, allowing NextCellular to offer seamless connectivity in the UK and enabling roaming across the EU, while providing IMSI (international mobile subscriber identifier) number ranges.

“The partnership is vitally important in defining our way forward. With Tata Communications we have a dependable enabler for the state-of-the-art technology needed to allow us to provide seamless connectivity. That complements NextCellular strengths of distribution knowhow for subscriber acquisition, creating and providing market-fit products, demand creation, and expansion planning.”

In the Indian market, which falls under our travel business segment, our core distribution channels are travel, study abroad & visa processing agencies, airport kiosks and wholesale, bulk, & digital sales. This strong distribution network ensures our reach and penetration to the entire traveling customer segment, including leisure, business, economic migrant, and MICE [meetings incentives, conferences, and exhibitions].

Acting as a super-flexible backbone

NextCellular-branded SIM cards are provisioned on the Tata Communications MOVE platform using their best in the industry agreements with different MNOs. That allows Next360 to operate as both service provider and reseller.

Under this arrangement we own billing and distribution and, with flexible access to our own Tata Communications MOVE portal, it allows us to understand consumer behaviour in terms of business intelligence like usage pattern and consumption motives. That allows us to personalise the service while consumers are away from home. That data integrates with our billing and CRM software, and helps us plan the network and dimension of our POPs.

In other words, the Tata Communications MOVE platform acts as a backbone for the whole operation, while Next360 runs activities like customer onboarding. A single Tata Communications managed service and troubleshooting model means users don’t have to go anywhere else for service. Also, they manage the customer lifecycle and enable different packages such as pricing and what networks customers can roam on, which allows limitless landmass coverage in defined countries and geographies.

Beautifully crafted model offers instant mobile connectivity

“The Next360 model’s beauty is the minute the traveller sets foot on British soil they’re connected, ready to go on one of the best mobile networks in the UK.”

Even better, they don’t have to fiddle with manually choosing a network. They’ve got ready-to-use plans, set up as part of the onboarding process, which include pre-paid bundles, pre-set roaming rights, and pre-configured settings.

With the likelihood people will once more adopt optimistic outlooks when it comes to travel, we are also gearing up for revenge travel to surpass all previous records in terms of inventory planning. To begin with, that’s being placed in Indian and South African markets, where subsequent orders are already being triggered.

This multi-year strategic alliance with Tata Communications means we will become the preferred roam-free connectivity brand for travellers. We’ll do that by not only focusing on current distribution channels, but also looking at innovative ways of aligning ourselves with major global events.

Today and tomorrow, the sky’s the limit

The key differentiator for Next360 is that Tata Communications MOVE provides a fully-fledged global offer rather than bits and pieces of networks here and there. Double-digit month-on-month growth is definitely on the cards.

“As well as a robust and secure network, Next360 attains future readiness from Tata Communications.”

For example, eSIM availability with QR codes for network acquisition and changes, and eKYC functionality for lifelong identity and assured cybersecurity. Also, working with Tata Communications offers relationships with other telcos to help us scale in new regions like south-east Asia and other emerging markets.

To learn more about Tata Communications MOVE, please click here.

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The majority of sports professionals can’t do their job from home. In order to maintain momentum within the sector and fan engagement, organisations had to rethink how they showcase sports when it can’t happen in a live setting.

With the pandemic forcing sports players and broadcasters to work remotely, sports federations faced a significant challenge around how to engage with fans. One significant solution they’ve turned to is eSports. Esports and gaming have burst into the mainstream in recent years, transforming from a niche to a central form of entertainment around the world. With more people at home over the last year than ever before, there is no sign that the eSports boom will stop soon.

The current state of the eSports market

For years, companies like Amazon and Google have dominated the sports and gaming sector and are continuing to change the landscape for others within the space. Thinking back to almost 10 years ago, there was a dramatic shift. Consumers wanted more from their gaming consoles, and more were turning online to continue not only playing games but also watching them, as an extension of what they had at home.

“The rise of free games has also contributed to the shift in online gaming and is now attracting not only the younger generation, but consumers of all ages thanks to its ease of access.”

In fact a recent report by Techtalks found that in 2020, while the eSports industry was already worth $1.1 billion, its value is projected to increase up to at least $1.8 billion by 2022. This massive growth is supported by an equally impressive growth in the eSports audience: from 120 million to 495 million over five years from 2015 to 2020.

The sector will continue to grow as consumers demand to have more games. With stadiums still functioning at limited seating capacity, traditional sporting federations may have to consider looking eSports and gaming-at-large to engage fans. It is clear that from this surge in users, it is helping to fuel the sector further.

Existing alongside traditional sports

Already we have seen traditional sports utilise the eSports avenue to maintain cash flow during the pandemic. For example, the Virtual Grand Prix drew 3.2 million online viewers, with an estimated 1.2 million watching on TV. With this increased viewership, broadcasters and video players alike will begin to see eSports content as part of the norm. This increased expectation is something that organisations will have to live up to, so people have a sense of continuity.

However, for organisations to increase their distribution of eSports content, they need the right technology and infrastructure in place to support this. With a rising trend of sports broadcasters buying the rights for eSports content across the US, China and the UK, this will be crucial.

For instance, Tata Communications has worked with media and entertainment company De Tune to support making video workflow for eSports content on the edge, with low latency. To succeed at this, we helped them deploy media cloud infrastructure on the edge, which made it possible to deliver content to all parties involved in production in a matter of seconds, with all editing and production done on the cloud, at an increased speed. This agility in workflow meant that De Tune was able to keep up with the changing demands within the sector and this level of speed and agility will be needed for the coming years.

As consumers increasingly want more choice, eSports will exist alongside traditional sporting events as a form of additional content for fans to engage with.

“Esports will serve as a bridge between traditional sports and online gaming.”

How can companies look to monetise eSports?

How eSports can be monetised is the existential question for the industry. As we are already starting to see, the eSports ecosystem will only continue to grow, and we’ll see capitalisation of this on a regional level.

Even telecommunication companies are looking at data plans and content that will be available exclusively on their network, which gives a clear and focused monetisation option for direct-to-consumer operators.

Monetisation will kick in when they treat this as a form of live sport, and not just online content and the pandemic has already put this into motion. Popular streaming sites such as Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming, for example, have experienced a 20% increase in the numbers of hours streamed.

More so than ever before consumers want choice. Esports as an extension of traditional sports is providing consumers more variety over what content they can consume.

“As people have become used to on-demand content during the pandemic, the focus on digital platforms and direct customer facing platforms will remain significantly high.”

The interest in eSports has only just begun and technology will play a central role in driving this further – creating seamless digital experiences no matter where people are or the device they are using, making it an increasingly accessible and instant form of content.

To discover more, read this blog on agile and secure networks for innovation. 

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Over the last few decades, with every improvement, upgrade or optimisation technology has undergone, the networks that connect them have also been evolving.

With time, these and other technologies were absorbed into enterprise architecture through the consumerisation of business technology. And it’s these staggered, iterative, rapid changes that have created the complex corporate infrastructure and networks we use today.

In this first piece, we’ll look at how it all started.

The data centre shift

Enterprise networks began with data centre focused, wide area network (WAN) architecture. So, the network was just the office branches and the data centres which held their applications. There was a time when some of these applications even sat in a desktop in an office, where the business users would connect to it.

But as the network got bigger, and requirements got more sophisticated, applications eventually moved into data centres.

With data centres, businesses had dedicated compute capacity, security and network bandwidth. Users (employees) simply went into the office to connect to these resources, and this was considered state of the art up until around 15 – 20 years ago.

Rise of VPNs and the first remote workers

By the 90s, enterprises were using virtual private networks (VPN) or MPLS networks to connect to their data centres. As the VPN encrypted the connection and there was no direct connection to the internet at the time, it was a secure method of protecting organisations.

It also meant that, without changing the overarching architecture, some users could now work from home. They would need to install VPN software on their home desktop or use a laptop with it pre-installed to have access to the business network and applications. For these remote working pioneers, the experience of working from home was usually plagued by errors, and troubleshooting with IT was troublesome.

Because connectivity requirements for remote users were not that sophisticated at the time, this worked. Essentially, if you logged into the VPN from home, you would appear to be in the office. And everything connected to the office network was trusted, as network security was a much simpler problem.

However, that would change with the emergence of cloud computing.

The rise of SaaS and the inefficiencies of private WAN

“By the turn of the millennium, we begin to see the start of the shift away from corporate data centres, which were based on a CAPEX (capital expenditure) funding model.”

Vendors began offering applications ‘as a service’ from the cloud, where you pay what you consume.

As IT teams became leaner and more efficient, many realised this Software as a Service (SaaS) consumption-based model was much more flexible as well as they absolved enterprises from having to spend funds on building and maintaining on-premise data centres.

However, now the process of connecting to enterprise apps wasn’t as convenient as it used to be. The data centre-architecture was now inefficient as applications were no longer being hosted on the business’ data centre, but on that of the vendors. So, network traffic was now taking much longer, and often unnecessary routes.

For example, if you worked in San Francisco for a company that was headquartered in New York. To access your company’s CRM app, your connection would have to go from San Francisco to New York, then up into the internet to access your vendor’s data centre, which may be based in the same region as your office (San Francisco).

These long roundtrips began leading to poor user experiences, with more delays and errors such as timeouts. And with time, the bandwidth that went from office to the data centres started to get choked by increased bandwidth required by modern graphical user interface.

Businesses needed to breakout of this framework of long, inefficient network routes if they wanted to improve the working experience of their employees.

And that’s exactly what they did.

The Internet Breakout

To get around these choked networks, businesses started using local internet breakouts as a way to connect straight to the internet. With an internet connection at branches that linked enterprise users directly to the internet, it meant shorter routes for network traffic and a better user experience when accessing cloud-hosted applications.

At first, most of the traffic still went through the data centre, even if employees were using SaaS applications. That’s because at the time, only a handful of the business apps – such as CRMs or HR apps – were consumed as SaaS by enterprises.

However, the turning point started when software companies decided to stop selling desktop versions of their apps altogether. An example is Microsoft which changed its product offering into Office 365, which was cloud first and viewed desktop clients secondary.

These sorts of decisions changed the scale of business’ networking needs dramatically.

“Enterprises that previously only needed to manage an internet breakout from their data centre for maybe a fifth of their users were now having to do it for 80 – 100% of their users.”

The current architecture simply wasn’t sustainable for this way of working. It meant businesses had to put in more direct internet connections, increasing their complexity levels as they started needing to manage multiple connections at each branch.

More worrying however, was the fact that those branches now connected the business directly to the internet, which meant businesses had to focus more resources on cybersecurity. In the past, no one outside the organisation could access the business network unless they somehow got in through the private network, which, along with the IP address, simply wasn’t available outside the organisation.

But this had all changed and it was getting more and more complicated to secure and configure all business’ networks.

SD-WAN to the rescue

With hybrid network at branches, the configuration of each branch router became a more complex task. This also meant every time there was a change in policy, the arduous work of reconfiguring them had to happen again.

“With the introduction of SD-WAN, that configuration was moved to a centralised cloud controller, so businesses had the ability to apply different configurations to routers based on an individual branch’s needs.”

So, say a business had hundreds of branches and 98% of them were regular internet branches, with a few data centres. With SD-WAN, a business could apply different network profiles to its different branches to optimise the user experience of employees.

The profiles were standardised as templates, making them a lot easier and faster to reconfigure branches. And with time, secured SD-WAN solutions with firewall features were introduced in a bid to further reduce complexity.

And that’s where we were until about two years ago.

In the next blog in this series, we’ll look at the network developments that took us through to the present day of en masse remote working and look at some of the networking developments the future holds like intent-based networking.

The post The evolution of networks part 1: VPN, SaaS and the rise of SD-WAN appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

If the global pandemic changed anything, it was how rapidly we learnt to collaborate online, wherever we were in the world. Post pandemic, it looks like the distributed, hybrid workforce is here to stay. We’re now seeing our customers look for even smarter ways to connect. But instead of adopting a business-critical app here, or a smart collaborative tool there, how do we build meaningfully on the great work we’ve started, and begin to embed a permanent culture of unified collaboration that bridges physical and digital spaces?

Building a collaborative ecosystem

Some of the most exciting collaboration trends have emerged over the past 18 months, powered by technologies that have caused nothing less than a cultural transformation. These include using smarter meeting applications, integrating voice and video, closing the boundaries between physical and remote work. But for this experience to become fully integrated, we need to consider unified communications not just as workplace infrastructural plumbing, but as the foundational enabler of a comprehensive experience canvas.

“More than anything, enterprises need a digital partner who can transform employee experience for every persona, remote on in-person, knowledge-worker or front-line employee, full time employee or freelancer to create an employee experience that serves as a differentiator in the new hybrid world of work.”

The challenges leaders face

Making day-to-day collaboration actually work, doesn’t happen overnight. Firstly, business leaders must acknowledge the changing expectations of the very definition of work. Work is not just about offices anymore. Unified Collaboration technology needs to cast off collaboration in a distributed workforce. To make things harder, the traditional technology landscape of unified collaboration is not simple.

“Navigating vendor complexity effectively is therefore key, with a full assessment of managed service providers’ licensing needed to ensure the right tools – such as integrated voice and video and managed telephony – are adopted in the right way.”

Then, enterprises must unpick a complex web of legacy systems so that they have the right features to match new infrastructure, and also have a clear migration roadmap in place to ensure maximum adoption. Without the right partner to guide them through this complex process, we know that businesses can face a real uphill battle, one that leads to cost inefficiencies, inconsistent user experience, differing qualities of service, and even compliance and regulatory issues.

How the right partner can help bring lasting change

Harnessing the global leading digital ecosystem enabler Tata Communications and the IT and the consulting expertise of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), our combined solution puts unified collaboration at the center of every enterprise we partner with.

“Taking a holistic approach where the employee is at the centre, we move away from vendor complexity to simplify adoption and support, while managing legacy systems and expediting migration without impacting business processes or adding unnecessary costs.”

We also integrate voice, video and audio with best-in-class applications to make Smart Meetings the true hub of the modern workplace. Finally, the proprietary TCS Office 365 Engage Platform helps in delivering curated and personalized trainings to drive adoption and engagement across users using digital nudging and behaviour science.

To learn more, read this blog on using technology to tackle unconscious bias. 

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As a digital ecosystem enabler, we at Tata Communications have developed a platform: Tata Communications MOVE eSIM Hub. It enables companies to remotely commission and configure IoT applications worldwide and thereby improve their service.

In connected production environments, a constant flow of data is the be-all and end-all. When machines and plants communicate with each other and with the cloud, completely new possibilities open up for manufacturers. By collecting and analysing relevant data, manufacturers can increase efficiency and offer enhanced experiences to the end consumers. Services such as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance are creating new revenue models that are changing the role of machine manufacturers.

From mere producers, they are becoming service providers that play a key role within their customers’ production processes. The prerequisite for this, however, is reliable connectivity. This is the key to a manufacturer’s ability to deliver on its promises. Increasing dependency on connectivity is also associated with risks, because a connection failure can quickly cost several thousand euros per minute, depending on the production volume.

Organisations with production sites in different countries face additional challenges. They have to deal with different legal processes and mobile network providers in each country. In addition, more and more IoT-enabled devices are mobile. Asset tracking devices or connected vehicles, for example, must remain permanently connected even when crossing borders in order to perform their tasks and receive necessary software updates.

SIM technology inhibits IoT applications

For a long time, companies used exchangeable SIM cards to connect and authenticate Internet-enabled devices with a local mobile network operator (MNO) in each region. However, this solution is no more practical with increasing mobility.

“It is not easily scalable, i.e., engaging with different MNOs in each country will need companies to insert different SIM cards in their devices every time or exchange them for international transfers.”

This can prove to be very expensive.

On the other hand, SIM cards require space in the product itself, which must be taken into account in the design. All of this takes place against the backdrop of elaborate business processes during their manufacture. For example, after production, a chip must first be recorded with information such as profile data and certificates before it is sold as a SIM card via the mobile communications provider to the machine builder or device manufacturer, who in turn passes it on to system integrators or the end user. Since each company involved adds its profit margin, this production chain generates high costs.

eSIM facilitates integrated connectivity

The eSIM technology has proven to be a solution to all these challenges. An eSIM is an embedded SIM that connects the device to the mobile network from the beginning, making it ‘born connected’. Manufacturers and users thus benefit from ‘out-of-the-box’ connectivity that enables rapid, location-independent deployment of the device in question.

As a zero-touch solution, eSIMs allow updates such as operator profile changes to be applied remotely. This means that the relevant devices do not have to be configured by a technician on site every time a change is made, saving time and money. New devices can also be activated and managed online throughout their lifecycle, right from their manufacture. This means that companies can also put a large number of geographically widely distributed applications into operation at the same time and thus expand their capacities in an uncomplicated manner. At the same time, this ‘over-the-air’ configuration allows companies to quickly adapt their services to new circumstances worldwide.

“With all this, eSIM technology simplifies product management, shortens time-to-market and improves service quality.”

At the same time, the fixed integration of the eSIM into the device in question increases data security, as it cannot be removed and stolen. Plus, companies can better control device access and usage as a result.

Central control via eSIM Hub

To give enterprises centralised access to the eSIM technology, providers such as Tata Communications have launched platform solutions. The Tata Communications MOVE eSIM Hub, for example, enables seamless connectivity across different mobile networks and SIM providers. Through a single, comprehensive portal, enterprises can manage all their IoT connections and subscriptions globally during different stages of the product lifecycle, regardless of the connectivity technology or service provider used.

With its associations with over 600 MNOs across more than 190 countries, Tata Communications works closely with local MNOs to ensure maximum network reach and availability for connected services. In each case, data transfer is handled via the nearest point-of-presence to ensure the best possible connection quality. Meanwhile, preset connectivity with leading cloud providers ensures secure mobile connectivity over private networks.

As the interface between hardware and software, the eSIM Hub thus enables IoT-enabled devices to securely and reliably dial into the mobile network anywhere in the world – regardless of which network they are on and which SIM provider they use. This greatly simplifies the implementation of IoT applications.

More flexibility for global manufacturing

International companies in particular benefit from switching to such a platform. While it was previously necessary to conclude access and roaming agreements with the respective local network operators, the eSIM Hub now offers centrally regulated access to hundreds of networks in a large number of countries.

It complies with current GSMA (Group Speciale Mobile Association) standards for eSIMs, making it possible to switch between different connectivity service providers and data tariffs – even if the device in question is already in use.

The straightforward onboarding of new profiles also gives companies more flexibility. This means they can also take existing mobile contracts with them when they switch to the eSIM Hub. To this end, the installed eSIMs are equipped with a bootstrap profile from the outset, which facilitates the download of new operating profiles and their migration. It also ensures the connectivity of the respective device in the event of a fault.

Integrated connectivity as a paradigm shift

“The complicated deployment of traditional SIM cards and the associated infrastructural hurdles currently represent the bottleneck in the seamless connectivity amongst the different pillars of this ecosystem.”

Integrated connectivity with eSIM technology can change this. Combined with platform solutions such as the eSIM Hub, it acts as a door opener and paves the way to globally connected smart manufacturing. This gives machine and component manufacturers the necessary flexibility to commission, control and optimise IoT applications across borders. The eSIM technology thus promises nothing less than a paradigm shift in connected production.

Discover more about how IoT is helping to maintain industrial workers’ safety.

The post How eSIM Hub helps enterprises with management of IoT applications appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Today, CFOs have a different role beyond the financial health of the organisation. We are catalysts for change. The CFO is a trusted advisor to the CEO helping in steering business transformation – to help shape their organization for the future.

One of the biggest challenges is how can you predict and prepare for the future when you don’t know what is around the bend? For example, if you are driving a car and approach a bend at full speed you will crash, but if you drive too slow, you will be overtaken. So, what do you do if you don’t know how to navigate the road ahead at the right speed and take the right approach?

Be a future thinker to be ahead

The recent times have been unprecedented. Standard solutions and the way we look at performance have not always been ideal. But there are lessons we can learn from.

For instance, nearly all of us have been working from home — pretty much for 100% of the time for over a year across the globe. If there’s any silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that we had the infrastructure to enable this. There’s been a rapid shift to the cloud, where software has defined everything, and app-based services have ensured seamless connectivity of people, processes, apps, and devices. Imagine if this pandemic hit us only a decade ago, the world economy would have been significantly impacted as none of this would have been possible.

So, who were the people that made these digital transformation investment decisions five years ago? Without all the facts and figures? Without knowing what would happen?

There’s a great example I could give: Pokémon Go, the digital game, became an overnight phenomenon in 2016. I actually had people walking through my front garden to capture these virtual creatures on their phones through the app. The valuation of Nintendo[1], the franchisee owner of Pokemon, went up by almost $7.5bn in a short span of 48 hours. Despite the fact that Niantic, the American software company created the game and launched it successfully. And the game become a global phenomenon due to the cloud infrastructure Niantic already had in place – all thanks to the future-thinking they made years ago.

Ultimately, it is the CFO’s decision to invest for this unknown turn in the bend. They must develop the knack for steering and accelerating at just the right speed, in blind yet calculated anticipation of what’s coming.

“The CFO is making decisions today for what can transform a business and not just make it more profitable five years from now but also relevant and future-proof.”

Be a Catalyst; All Innovation is Now Digital!

I now see my peers in the industry evolve their enterprises from working on digital projects to initiating digital programs and having a fully-fledged digital adoption roadmap encompassing all parts of the organisation. All innovation is now digital. Such as the hotel I stayed at recently, where everything in the room was Wi-Fi enabled and controlled by a tablet – the lights, AC, ceiling fans, room service, and more.. I can imagine if manufacturers of physical switches do not evolve, their entire business will be at risk.

“I wont be wrong in saying that as a company, we live or die by our digital evolution.”

The CFO of a business should be trusted with leading the way. You only have to look at the four quadrants of CFOs we have today – Stewards, Operators, Strategists, and Catalysts. It’s this latter quadrant where the crème de la crème of the top-performing Fortune 500 companies are. They’re making the decisions that are shaping the future – and the businesses they help steer are reaping the rewards.

Be disruptive in digital transformation

Having a solid brand is still important today. It should speak on your behalf and offer your brand values in a reliable and consistent manner. Today, a competitor brand won’t disrupt your business by offering a 30% price cut – it will be because they have a fundamentally different go-to-market model. There is a CFO behind that. He or she has helped their company to lay down forward-thinking plans. And more often than not, it is based on digital transformation.

Customers are crucial of course; they demand better products. You need to be online to deal with this – even if you don’t have an online presence, it still affects your business. Take third party rating sites such as Trip Advisor for example, where some customers are reviewing you – and other customers are listening, and making decisions that affect your business based on what they read. Your online presence matters more than ever.

You may have a great brand and customer-base, but you also need employees who will go the extra mile to evangelize on your behalf. Potential employees will now judge you on your digital transformation. It started with Bring Your Own Device, but now it’s extended to software and usability – the need to consume info where and when they want. CFOs need to help their organisations attract new talent who are demanding this high level of employee experience. They are making the choice to join you based on your digital infrastructure right now.

Be agile and adapt

Today there’s often less time and more data muddying the waters. But big decisions are still needed from CFOs. The answer is to fail fast.

Not all trends are successful – who remembers snail-trail beauty treatments? – but participating in the ones that are a success allows for huge profits, if you’re prepared to fail fast by making a few wrong turns along the way.

It’s all mostly about agility and the right KPIs. The product lifecycle is shorter, but the mark-ups are potentially greater. CFOs need to be let loose to constantly adapt.

Be ‘Digital-First’ with a digital ecosystem enabler.

Organizations who act as a digital ecosystem enabler provide the answer for CFOs.

“Tata Communications can help you create the ecosystem for borderless growth and address your challenges – in whatever form they lie.”

But you need to acknowledge that there’s a bend coming and be prepared. We can help you make this happen.

Organizations need a digital-first infrastructure in place. And CFOs, in my view, need to be able to spend a disproportionate amount of their investment budget on digital. You need to be prepared to fail faster. To write off certain projects so that you can reap the rewards of those that don’t.

Future-facing CFOs need to make the decisions which will help their business evolve and be in the best place possible for whatever is ‘beyond the bend’.

For more information on this, read our eBook Accelerate Your Workplace Evolution, or contact Tata Communications.

[1] https://reachmarkets.com.au/news/catch-em-all-how-nintendo-investors-learned-about-dd-the-hard-way/

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Handling around 60 percent of all imports, including food and medicine, the port of Beirut connects Lebanon to the world. In August 2020, there was a devastating explosion in the port, killing over 170 people and injuring about 6,000 more. With repairs estimated at up to $15 billion, around 300,000 residents were rendered homeless. The following COVID-19 pandemic made matters even worse. The financial situation deteriorated as the deadly blast had pushed tens of thousands of people into poverty.

As we shall see, the effects of those twin disasters were to affect the IT and network infrastructure improvement plans of one of the major Lebanon airlines. In fact, before the Beirut explosion and COVID-19 pandemic crises, things for this airline had looked much better. With one of the most modern fleets of aircraft in the world, the company was looking to replace its network services. It had previously been served by local internet links with uncertain bandwidths, security loopholes, and lack of reliability, which affected online and face-to-face customer service.

In 2018, the airline was looking for a partner who could assist with the required connectivity upgrade. An RFP was issued, and the primary reason Tata Communications was chosen came down to its cross-border reach, cost optimisation, 24/7 support, strong security for protection against cybercrime, and partnership capability. The airline company therefore decided to go ahead with the network solution offered by Tata Communications and its partner TerraNet.

“The proposed solution was based on IZO Hybrid WAN with majority of sites on MPLS and few sites on Tata Communications’ flagship IZO Internet WAN service.”

The architecture would be an any-to-any mesh with Secure Internet Gateway Services (SIGS) for central internet breakout. Planning to serve 64 locations across countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Europe, the IZO Hybrid WAN connectivity solution would have ensured seamless traffic handshakes with TerraNet in London to enable connectivity to all airline-deployed sites.

Working in close partnership with Tata Communications for over three years, TerraNet has worked on numerous enterprise projects. The two companies had also stepped in to help provide connectivity to people forced to work from home during the pandemic, as well as provide IT and telecom services to hard-pressed healthcare establishments in Lebanon.

Standing shoulder to shoulder in adversity

That was all before the explosion in Beirut and the resignation of the government. Many of the displaced members of parliament would focus instead on supporting projects to rebuild the city’s physical infrastructure.

Difficult enough with the COVID-19 pandemic cutting swathes through commercial and leisure air travel, raging inflation in Lebanon added to the woes being felt by the said airline. Things were hard for them with domestic and international air traffic descending to record lows.

“Tata Communications is offering support and lessening the impact on the current network project by deferring phases to match the airline’s revenue stream.”

The full-scale network implementation will involve liaison between TerraNet and 80 local partners in countries across the Middle East, Africa, central Asia, and Europe. Special civil engineering works will be carried out around COVID-19 restrictions with careful travel arrangements to cater for unique requirements.

Currently, 14 of the 64 planned global sites of the airline have been connected to the MPLS infrastructure. There have been unavoidable problems, such as permissions and licenses, which have been progressively overcome on a case-by-case basis.

Once the MPLS network has been fully deployed it will benefit the airline by plugging security loopholes, providing access to central booking and air traffic applications, and enabling the airline’s people to work as if sitting at adjacent desks.

“The strengths of TerraNet and Tata Communications will help the company achieve its commercial goals and demonstrate our capabilities to deliver the solution despite all the challenges.”

Tata Communications guarantees stringent network availability SLAs for the company network. The positive impact on the airline and its commercial operations will be huge once the entire infrastructure is up and running. Other similarly placed players in the airline industry could take advantage of emulating such a powerful network solution.

To learn more read this blog post on SD-WAN and NFV.

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Lady Gaga, Alanis Morissette, Paul Mccartney, Taylor Swift, Celion Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Rolling Stones, a dream line-up for any music enthusiast! Well, this just came true last year, along with 100 other musicians jamming live from different corners of the world, giving an up-close-and-personal experience from their living rooms. Interestingly, the Rolling Stones even managed to play together from four separate locations at the same time. Now, that is a great example of paving the way for the digital evolution of the entertainment industry. It was spectacular to see the seamless broadcasting and cloud-based live editing which brought together worldwide talent on one virtual stage. The hero behind the curtains was undoubtedly the cloud!

Facilitating the lightning speed of up to 60 frames per second, cloud made it possible to edit the feeds live on a browser and distribute it on any device with a bandwidth of even 2Mbps. Further, promising the consumer a personalised content at their convenience in the new era of media and entertainment. Here’s a preview of more such exciting times ahead.

Online video streaming – the king of content

A few years back, if someone told us more than half of India’s population will no longer have a conventional cable or dish TV set-up, it would be hard to fathom. Well, this is the reality today! Our handphone has become the first tool to gain any and every form of content. A recent survey notes the OTT sector in India witnessed a 30% hike in the number of paid subscribers, from 22.2 million to 29.0 million between March and July 2020 alone. In fact, we are observing an incredible rise in the daily consumption of video content across age groups from 40 to 50 mins a day to nearly 190 mins a day.

Remote production: man of the match for live content

Live sports capture a big share of the entertainment industry. It’s not mere entertainment but a part of life and a passion for many. Therefore, it has been one industry that has been forced to evolve digitally at the pace of its fan’s digital adoption, interests, and changing habits.

“The increasing demand to witness the on-field bustle and for fans to cheer their favourite players like they are right next to them in the game has pushed the industry to progress to immersive, virtually augmented, and remotely produced forms of entertainment.”

The sporting federations that were not prepared for the year 2020 had to ramp up technology upgrades and infrastructure in a matter of weeks and months; which an earlier estimate had indicated was a few years down the line.

Historically, live events have been resource-intensive with hundreds of people such as engineers, editors, producers, and more required at the venue with a fleet of OB (Outside Broadcasting) vans to process the feeds captured from multiple cameras and share it with broadcasters with a lag of few minutes. The introduction of remote production technology now allows broadcasters to just send the cameras on the match location, with the production team back in office, working remotely, to analyse the feeds received from multiple locations and broadcast customised feeds in real-time, cutting down on the latency and the humongous cost.

Remote production is not a new concept, but in just last year, it became the unbeatable heroic technology to rescue sporting events, broadcasters, marketers, and the desperate fans worldwide by setting the field for the players with minimum contact and a skeleton crew on-ground.

IPL 2020 delivered from home

IPL 2020, is one of the most successful case studies of remote production getting cloudified. It surely brightened every Indian cricket fans’ day with superior video quality resolution, real-time delivery in nine different languages with cutting edge, ultra-low latency solution.

“By virtualising the entire environment and using media orchestration on the cloud, teams could create cloud-based content workflows that aided content creators and stakeholders to manage the video production chain end-to-end remotely from their homes.”

Another remote production miracle that broke traditional and geographic inhibitions, was the warm-welcome given to NC Dinos and Samsung Lions of South Korea by American baseball fans, watching the league in English commentary past their bedtime. Certainly, a cue for the sports fraternity and digital media companies to expand their footprints globally due to the growing demand for regional programming in non-native geographies.

eSports and cloud gaming – the future of interactive entertainment

The quest for original sports content has led to the proliferation of eSports and cloud gaming for action-hungry fans across the world, especially India. It is heartening to see that Indian gamers today constitute for 15% of the global gamer community. This is a testament of the digital penetration in the country, replicating the change in consumer perception towards sport and gaming. It further draws attention on the need for bridging the fan experience gaps through a platform that is unimaginably interactive, engaging, and real-time. Although the gaming industry has started strengthening the roots in the country, it still needs the right monetisation and publishing support. Seamless user experience and additional unique content outside the game are going to be crucial factors for promoting and building the community.

Exciting times ahead

“Migrating to the cloud is the top priority of an industry that has immense possibilities.”

As it enables remote teams to integrate and automate their usual tasks such as file delivery, frame-accurate editing, transcoding videos for OTT platforms, seamlessly in virtual environments – without having to transfer feeds between physical workstations.

The movement to UHD, 4K, 360⁰ VR, and other rich formats has commenced, leading to a dire need for fibre-based video networks for uncompressed video contribution. Indian entertainment industry is recognising the digital behaviour of audiences and moving fast to build a right ecosystem from infrastructure to app experience to offer viewers a seamless and secured experience.

Discover more about how enterprises are normalising digital transformation.

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While the shift to digital started years ago, COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the transition as financial institutions adapt to the closure of physical branches and the reduction of physical transactions in the contactless economy. In fact, 44% of the top 250 banks in the Asia Pacific are already shifting their focus to expediting their digital transformation.

Whether it is an upcoming digital bank, incumbent bank or other financial services provider, their future survival and success will lie in their digital capabilities and services. By focusing their digital transformation strategy on (1) customer experience, (2) collaboration and (3) network, cloud, and mobility transformation, BSFI organisations can build a strong foundation for innovation, new business models and additional revenue streams in the future.

Here are the key recommendations that CIOs and technology decision makers should consider when planning their long-term digital transformation strategy.

Customer experience – differentiating your organisation with omni-channel digital experience 

The emergence of new digital banks, together with the expansion of services among fintech and other service providers, has seen competition surge in this sector. With the pandemic accelerating front-end digitisation, BFSI organisations are leveraging digital customer experiences as one of the visible and critical differentiators to distinguish themselves from the other players.

Customers today expect BFSI organisations to provide financial services with omni-channel experiences, supported by always-on customer service representatives. These platforms should also be augmented by intuitive self-serve support options, chatbots and other automation technologies to facilitate fast, seamless transactions, such as integrated payment and personalised on-boarding processes.

“Quick resolution of customer queries will be key to ensure the digital customer experience is not undermined.”

This is the fundamental level of customer experience that all BSFI organisations should strive to achieve.

We will also see an increased demand for ultra-rich media, such as having a video chat with a BFSI representative. Coupled with solutions such as speech recognition and AI-powered virtual assistants, financial institutions have the opportunity to turn every transaction into superior experiences.

Collaboration – empowering employees to better serve customers 
The year 2020 pushed BFSI organisations to dramatically transform their operations to adjust to remote working, and a significant portion of the workforce in most leading banks is expected to continue working remotely in the post-pandemic world. For instance, a top international bank recently announced its plans to provide hybrid work options to more than 90% of its employees. A leading local bank in Singapore is also looking to make flexible work arrangements a permanent initiative for its staff.

“To aid this transition successfully and increase work efficiency, organisations will need to have a unified, collaborative platform to work seamlessly across functions and geographies.”

Furthermore, to enable their workforce to continue to deliver exceptional customer services and stay collaborative, they must provide the infrastructure to support remote access to enterprise applications.

However, accessing sensitive information over the public internet can introduce new dimensions of cyber risks. Organisations need to ensure their employees have secure and seamless remote access to applications and data through measures such as zero-trust connectivity, managed authentication, and privileged identity management.

BFSI organisations should also explore integrating customer relationship management (CRM) applications into the remote working platforms to give customer service agents insights and access to a customer’s data and history so they can assess creditworthiness, offer relevant products, and understand changing customer requirements, real-time. This will enable them to up-sell and cross-sell different products and services to meet customers’ needs.

Network, cloud, and mobility transformation – developing secure and agile architecture to support future innovation

Building omni-channel customer engagement platforms and integrating diverse collaboration tools can create complexity and put tremendous pressure on organisations to transform their network.

“To be truly digital-first, organisations need an agile, cloud-centric, software-defined network that is simple to manage, stable-by-design and can securely support the global and ubiquitous access and distribution of data.”

With a cloud-optimised infrastructure, banks can create common, connected data sets and enable deeper, more sophisticated insights and analytics to derive personalised experience. It can also drive the closer integration of business units through greater data sharing and enhance collaboration through shared platforms. This will increase the speed of decisions and enable organisations to harness the power of data to solve customer problems or identify unmet needs.

Moreover, an agile network with modular plug and play architecture enables banks to respond faster to market shifts while building more resilient operations. It also provides BFSI organisations with the foundation to drive future innovation and create new customer experiences and business value through technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

To come out as a winner in the increasingly saturated BFSI space, organisations need to continue to transform their operating models and embrace digital as the core for their business. Their ability to deliver exceptional customer experience as well as innovate new forms of value and services through seamless collaboration over a secure and scalable network will not only enable organisations to differentiate themselves, but also embed themselves as an enabler of their customers’ digital transactions and activities in this burgeoning digital economy.

Discover more on the impact of COVID-19 on the digitalisation of financial services.

The post Building financial institutions that are fit for the future appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Without a doubt, COVID-19 has rapidly changed the way business is done and this is visible across industries. For players in the financial services sector, customer interactions have swiftly switched from physical to digital.

With 5G being rolled out in many global markets, remote working being the new norm and video-on-demand taking root everywhere, it is not alarming to know that four out of every five consumer transactions have moved to the digital eco-system since COVID emerged, according to IDC.

To survive and thrive in this altered landscape, financial institutions must speed up their digital transformation, and embrace disruptive technologies like 5G and AI to meet new business needs and evolving customer expectations.

A mobile-first strategy paramount

The emergence of transformative new technologies has created digital disruption across both retail and commercial lines in the banking industry. Today, creating a great customer experience is fundamental to a bank’s revenue and market share.

Unlike a decade ago, where customer experience management was retail or franchise driven, the focus now is on the user interface, developing APIs, and enabling highly secure transactions.

Covid-19 has made some of these considerations more tangible and dynamic.

“Rising competition is forcing financial services organisations to fast track their digital transformation and pivot their organisations to embrace new ways of working through technology.”

For example, now it might be enough to have a chatbot or a call centre with remote agents, engaging with banking customers. Soon, this will not suffice. Banks will want more analytics and technology that let them know their customers better. Banking clients will also demand ultra-rich media such as having a video chat with a live person, and demonstrably more robust cybersecurity.

Harness 5G

5G is also set to change the paradigms of transmit, compute, analyse and store. Deployed effectively, 5G can result in major customer experience enhancements, unleashing a new wave of productivity. Underbanked areas can be tapped thanks to the proliferation of 5G and the use of seamless augmented reality/virtual reality, leading to better financial inclusion.

The banking industry will gain tremendously as both speed and lower latency enable immense improvements in the end-user experience of financial transactions.

“All cogs in the wheel will move towards delivering improved levels of customer experience – from connecting inventory to information to financial flows.”

For instance, call centres will deploy immersive video in a bid to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. This requires unfettered access and secure bandwidth for communications anywhere in the world. Managing a secure and connected digital workplace for remote employees remains an important consideration going forward.

The growth of 5G also means that there will be higher demand for bandwidth, greater internet access, larger data flows and tougher SLA demands from prosumers. Enterprise IT infrastructure such as core networks, app servers, data centres and cloud will need to be aligned to handle the demand for higher performance from 5G endpoints.

Take to the clouds

The benefits of running operations from the cloud is now well-established. Many financial institutions, however, have legacy apps that cannot easily be shifted over to the cloud.

Financial services firms need to determine which apps are important to move to the cloud and run an audit to assess if these can indeed be moved.

In parallel, the infrastructure needed to enable the transition has to be evaluated with a focus on the total cost of ownership. In their haste to migrate to the cloud, many enterprises shift apps without taking into account infrastructure requirements necessary for an upgrade.

Cloud migration needs planning and an organised approach, starting with a study and an audit of the applications estate, followed by a phased migration approach based on cost-benefit analysis.

It is also crucial to prioritise which apps need to be moved to which cloud and consider modifying or upgrading the associated network and security infrastructure. All of these should be done sequentially in a controlled manner.

Lastly, in carrying out all the above recommendations, don’t forget something that is very innate to the business of banking − security.

In the new era, financial services players need to view security more broadly, as a complete solution that is rooted in their business strategy. Security is not just about blocking attacks but also leveraging technologies such as AI for predictive analysis of high-risk threats. Only then can financial institutions navigate and get ahead of the increasingly sophisticated threat and business landscape.

In summary, enterprises need a robust business strategy that covers three fundamental aspects: secure, connected, and digital and that brings this all together to offer the best employee, customer and partner experience.

“It’s a given that digital technologies are here to stay. We expect not only financial sector companies but organisations across sectors to assess their legacy tools and services and re-formulate their collaboration and business continuity strategies for the long term.”

Tata Communications has been enabling digitisation for enterprises globally while ensuring world-class security for many years now, and in these unprecedented times, we have been sharing a lot of our digital expertise and next-generation solutions portfolio with our CIO community in Asia Pacific and around the world.

Click here to find out more about Tata Communications’ Digital Customer Experience Platform, which enables enterprises, including banks, to transform the way they operate and engage with their customers, offering a rich omni-channel immersive experience, in this new digital-first world.  

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Over the past few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the digital transformation of businesses across industries. And as a result, the network infrastructure of organisations has also changed significantly.

Previously data centres were the centre of gravity of an enterprise network, but as businesses moved to the cloud, the networks started to evolve.

Covid-19 acted as the catalyst and further accelerated this transformation. As workforce mobility grows, the adoption of connected devices and data-driven digital platforms continues to increase, further expanding the migration of application workloads to the cloud along with it.

The acceleration of demand

No one could have predicted how Covid-19 would turn the business world upside down this year. Much of the network architecture companies had implemented, connecting their offices and workplaces to the cloud through centralised infrastructure, has been undone by the pivot to distributed workforce.

Where users would once access applications and information from company offices, they now need to connect from anywhere in the world.

“IT organisations and their corresponding networks are finding it harder to efficiently manage how, where and who has access of data and applications, and in what way.”

Traditional networks are nowhere near agile enough to cope with the recent surge in demand. In the past, these legacy systems could cope when limited number of people (typically fewer than 30% for knowledge workers), who decided to work from home at a certain time, were trying to connect to the VPN. Now the case is completely different.

Fundamentally the current state of play does not make sense – why, with the majority of a workforce working from home, should everyone connect to their office and then to the cloud?

I believe the deployment of agile SD-WAN or zero-trust clients on devices for users to work from home will be one of the next big steps for global network infrastructure.

SD-WAN enables standardisation and automation of network infrastructure, is quicker to update multiple sites, and provides added security – meaning less need for separate firewall appliances.

All of which ultimately increases application performance and delivers a high-quality user experience across the network, enabling enterprises and their distributed workforce to access documents and apps securely and with an enterprise-grade experience – from anywhere, anytime.

However, businesses must understand that SD-WAN is not just a quick fix on top of their existing not-fit-for-purpose networks.

A business looking to future-proof their infrastructure should anticipate and can evolve with long-term business objectives, needs and limitations as well as predicted technology developments.

A “new normal” for networks

“Our old working patterns, workspaces, and settings will not return even as we tackle the pandemic globally. Now enterprises are looking to build networks that aren’t based on their office buildings but built around their teams and users.”

Networks need to serve enterprise users’ digital transformation at the speed that the current situation dictates. Solutions such as Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) can be used to build these user-centric networks that reflect the pace and agility of SaaS and our new distributed workplaces.

NFV allows enterprises to “virtualise” or run their network’s functions in the cloud. In addition, it allows enterprises to subscribe to network services at their office premises, in the cloud or service provider edge.

They can even modify their architecture by redeploying these functions to another location. This ad-hoc, agile approach reduces operational costs and allows businesses to modify their IT architecture without having to move hardware.

The invisible door to business transformation 

The promise of automation and virtualisation with SD-WAN and NFV is so vast that soon an enterprise’s network will be the ladder to the success of their digital transformation strategy.

“For all their blueprints and plans for successful implementation, if businesses don’t put together a network that is ready to enable them, the vision to operate as a digital business would be hard to realise.”

Businesses must realise that their networks aren’t just a flat superhighway that everyone and everything can jump on to. Given the vast complexity of new hybrid networks that integrate SDN, SD-WAN and NFV, it is no longer viable for everything to just connect to everything else.

What businesses need now is an intelligent platform, that understands the interactions between the digital aspects of a business.

Networks should be seen almost as employees by organisations. Just as leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of their teams and utilise their skills on projects where they can excel, so too must businesses tailor their new network approach to their specific needs as an enterprise.

Ultimately when it comes to enterprise networks there is a need for speed, one that is leaving legacy networks and MPLS in its dust.

Discover more about how businesses can transform the network for greater agility and security.

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Today cloud computing is the gold standard for agile computing environments. Over the past decade, the models have evolved so much that a combination of public and private clouds are able to cater to pretty much most enterprise requirements.

“In cases where the application and the data cannot be easily migrated to the cloud, edge computing is able to bring cloud resources ‘closer’ (and I do mean physically closer) to applications and their data.”

This is much needed for devices that use sensors to capture data which has to then be processed and analysed by compute resources (such as an AI), and finally commands have to be passed in real-time to devices/applications that will perform the required corrective actions.

As IoT devices and their algorithms become more powerful, they need to be equipped with larger processors and storage, and consequently higher power requirements. This is not always possible within the limitations posed by the form factor of the device, and hence designers need to leverage the cloud for better compute and storage.

“This means that data has to now travel from an IoT device to the cloud, get processed and then travel back to the IoT device. Unfortunately, this means that latency now prohibits the use of the IoT device where response times are measured in milliseconds. Consider the examples of autonomous cars or autonomous robots, where reaction times need to match those of fighter pilots!”

Some of the use cases of high speed, mission critical IoT applications include:

• Voice and video recognition, where backhaul of audio/ video files to cloud is currently the only solution
• A better form of a CDN (Content Delivery Network) which allows service providers to not only optimise the delivery of audio-video content, but also move processing (and storage) closer to the user
• Augmented reality & network gaming, where low latency is the holy grail for customer experience
• Industrial IoT devices and gateways that need high performance networks
• Software Defined Networking, where local, low-cost computing nodes would perform the task of routing data, which would be especially useful for 5G connectivity
• Autonomous vehicles with machine/self-learning capabilities wherein the edge node would be within the car itself, thus reducing its dependency on the cloud

The convergence and availability of 5G and edge computing should also usher in several new and interesting services that had not been possible earlier due to inadequate bandwidth for devices on the move, as well as portable devices that required high computing resources but that could not leverage cloud computing due to latency issues. Some such products and services that we can potentially look forward to in the near future are:

• Seamless integration of Alexa and Google Assistant in to IoT and portable devices (such as in-cars infotainment systems)
• VR headsets and wearables with inbuilt and networked game consoles (think an entire Xbox contained within a VR headset)
• Integration of Facebook with AI-based IoT devices (we might see Facebook offering an AI based virtual assistant like Google, something that would integrate tightly with social media)
• A faster Facebook with performances better than a CDN
• Connected AIs for automation of industrial processes and devices, but in much smaller form factors
• Robots that can leverage much higher computing capacities and AI capabilities over the Edge

“As Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) develop these new breeds of connected and technologically advanced products and solutions, seamless integration of these products with Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) will be must – opening new business avenues for the latter.”

Furthermore, network providers and digital ecosystem enablers can also leverage new business opportunities as they can fulfill the infrastructure requirements and provide better connectivity solutions to both CSPs and OEMs.

Discover more about how to reimagine the value chain with IoT in a post COVID-19 world.

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The internet has become so embedded in our daily lives, it is hard to fully grasp the depths of its influence. Farmers in Maharashtra’s co-operatives are going online to make sure they are getting a fair price for their products; working professionals are eager to upskill and reskill digitally to be in line with the changing paradigm of technology and employment; while a sporting event in an empty stadium in Australia is produced remotely by a crew sitting out of Europe or India. Today, the seamless flow of data and information generates more economic value than ever imagined.

As India joined the world in this exhilarating digital race, socio-economic trends, driving and being driven by the Internet, favoured India too. The launch of business-friendly connectivity for Indian businesses enabled more products to reach the masses at lower prices. Better infrastructure connected the Indian cities with smaller towns, local economies with global trends, creating new jobs for a young India. The internet became the town square for the global village, spurring the Indian economy. Corporate customers maximised relationships with sophisticated software driven customer relationship management system. This, in many ways, paved the way for India rapidly becoming an important provider of technology and IT-enabled services.

But how can we truly measure how far we have come?

A comparative analysis of the Nifty 50 sector composition in 1995 vs present day serves as a good metaphor to view this transformation in the economy. The weight of the stocks from financial services sector has grown from 18.2% in 1995 to 33% today, fuelled by the emergence of online banking, and more recently, mobile services. The largest private sector employer in the country, the IT sector, was not represented at the time of the internet’s inception but today it represents 16% of the index weightage. It was in fact the year 1995-1996 when the Indian IT industry came to the fore. Indian IT firms lifted the Indian industry and the economy into global view, expanding faster than any other industry through the decade.

“From email to web-based services to web enabled services based on big data, cloud services, mobility solutions etc. all these innovations have transformed the nature and value of enterprises across the country.”

And now with industry 4.0, we are in motion for another great leap, strengthening digital transformation and new age technologies with a digital first persona. Virtual agents, autonomous cars, augmented reality mirroring real life experiences, spell the way forward for reimagining businesses.

As we look forward to the next 25 years, internet led services will continue to catalyse sectors at a faster rate, driving innovation, simplifying customer acquisition, and improving the customer experience.

“Increased adoption of smart networks and the integration of advanced technologies such as IoT, AI, cloud and cognitive computing will drive a huge push to the manufacturing, retail and healthcare sectors.”

As technology drives more immersive experiences, the media industry and online gaming will only go from strength to strength, while Aviation will bounce back to ride the skies again, with far higher levels of personalisation than we experience today.

Taking our heritage forward

August 15th, 1995 is a landmark event in our history and serves as a valuable example of the sustained investment and commitment to building the digital foundations of India. This spirit continues and is evident in the way essential services providers have come together through the COVID-19 period.

“We must take time to recognise the silent heroes, the guardians of the internet, who come in the form of on ground workers, risking their lives through the pandemic, ensuring this essential service remains uninterrupted for hospitals, home networks, enterprise networks and for civic governance.”

For Tata Communications, the launch of the public internet in India by VSNL in 1995, is our rich heritage – one that we continue to build on, making the internet fit for business through continuous innovation and transformation.

From 1995 to today, we have come a long way. Whether it is connecting enterprises in India and globally – enabling them to harness the power of the Internet and hybrid networks through our IZO platform or delivering seamless collaboration; safeguarding businesses against cyber-attacks; Cloud and IoT solutions to boost efficiencies and human innovation or even bringing live sports and entertainment to people’s homes and devices.

We have been driving innovation and transformation for our customers across the globe. These solutions are all the more relevant in the world we live in today. In line with the changing market and business requirements, we are delivering a Secure Connected Digital Experience to enterprises, as we reimage new ways of working for people and new ways for businesses to engage with their customers & partners to unleash new growth opportunities.

The past 25 years have been an incredible journey. We look forward to continuing to play our part in the next 25 years and beyond.

Discover more about the technology that’s making the world a better place.

The post India’s digital journey – Celebrating 25 years of being online appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

India’s growing energy demand

According to the United Nations, 68% of the world population will live in urban areas by 2050 and a whopping 416 million will be Indian. This will immensely amplify the demand for energy.

India today is largely energy sufficient. The Government of India has made great progress in recent years in increasing citizens’ access to electricity. It is the third largest producer and consumer of electricity, with 370,348 MW installed capacity. However, our dependence on fossil fuels continues to be very high – around 62% of our energy usage.

“This is not to say that India has not made advances in the renewable energy sector. In fact, in recent years, India’s global stature has risen due to its commitment to sustainable growth. Our country’s focus is demonstrated, for example, by its role in establishing the International Solar Alliance in collaboration with France.”

The nation has set forth an ambitious target of building 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and in line with this, has increased installed renewable capacity to 87.2 GW and solar capacity to 34 GW, up from 35 and 2.6 GW in 2014.

Important for smart street lighting to go the UJALA way

India’s infrastructure development plans are aligned to the ideas of sustainable growth and to the realities of rapidly urbanising regions.

One part of the plan is the 100 Smart Cities Mission, which is a major step in the right direction. A major urban renewal program funded by the Indian government, the Smart Cities Mission aims to develop citizen friendly and sustainable smart cities across the country. Just this year, five more cities were added to the list.

Smart cities require smart street lighting systems, and India therefore needs a scalable smart street lighting initiative. The Indian Government’s UJALA domestic lighting initiative, which targets to replace 770 million incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs, could be used as the blueprint for this.

Under the initiative, over 36 Cr LEDs have been installed contributing to over 47,000 million kWh energy savings, over INR 18,800 Cr cost savings, and over 3.8 Cr Tonnes of CO2 reduction every year.

“Smart street lighting systems also have a tremendous potential of saving cost and energy, reducing carbon emissions, and light-up India’s way to sustainability.”

At Tata Communications, we are committed to making a positive, tangible impact on the environment and wider society through our actions, and through our products & services for our customers. One of the ways we are doing this is through our IoT enabled solutions, like smart street lighting which helps conserve energy, reduce costs and improve the environmental footprint

Smart street lighting in action

Tata Communications has deployed smart streetlights in several cities, including Noida, NCR, Ahmedabad, Nashik, and parts of Kolkata. Delhi already has around 80,000 smart streetlights, which have been live since August 2019.

“Our smart LED light controller enables the smart streetlights to be controlled remotely, turning off or on and dimming of the light when necessary, and tracks all 80,000 lights to monitor for any malfunctions. Our biggest deployment was for a large industrial city which has 70,000 smart streetlights.”

Similarly, Tata Communications is leading the way in street lighting in Jamshedpur, with 300 smart streetlights already installed for the Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Co. Ltd (JUSCO), enabling a reduction in their carbon footprint. The aim is to increase this to 10,000 smart streetlights.

The initiative at JUSCO lead to 27 per cent energy saving over and above the standard LED energy savings due to individual consumption patterns, energy metering features and predictive maintenance. Automation such as centralised remote monitoring and control, also reduces operation and maintenance costs.

Ascertain the scale of deployment

With the scale of potential, it is important to ascertain the scale of deployment. We need to focus on the following three key aspects:

Avoid the ‘one size fits all’ approach. The diversity of Indian cities, their needs, and their challenges cannot be addressed by the modular one-size fits all approach. Therefore, while leveraging technology to solve street lighting problems of one city, we need to customise our solutions as per the requirements of the city.

Mutually beneficial relationship. The citizens of India need to have a mutually beneficial and responsive relationship with new age technologies. Otherwise, even the best technological systems will be pointless. This is even applicable in the case of smart street lighting.

Singular and cohesive action plan.  The challenge in India is implementation. There is a need for a multi-stakeholder partnership including private, public, and start-up companies that work cohesively towards a singular idea to make it work.

In the last few years, as sustainability has risen to the top of the agenda for companies, it’s not just cities that are looking at smart solutions. There is a demand and growing awareness from large industrial plants, commercial buildings, and townships too. For example, industrial plants are considering smart lighting solutions as they can automatically adjust the level of light depending on the time of the day, which helps with cost saving.

What can it achieve?

Smart street lighting can transform the way India travels and the way people feel about traveling in India.

If implemented as part of a sensor based IoT network, smart street lighting systems can collect data about the city which can then be used to respond to various evolving infrastructure challenges as well as create safe and illuminated spaces.

The systems not only reduce energy, cost and carbon emissions, but are also easily maintained and can provide critical help during emergencies. For example, if backed by a multi-camera and cloud service connection, the data gathered by a streetlight system can be leveraged by digital technologies to provide solutions related to traffic, crowd management and security.

Discover more about the technology that’s making the world a better place.

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In 2018, United Nations recorded that 55% of the world’s population is living in urban areas, and this is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. India already has 34% of its population occupying urban areas. And every year, this percentage increases. However, a looming question remains – how will these urban cities effectively support basic needs of this ever-growing population while also ensuring sustainable opportunities, growth, and resources for everyone , and more so today,  in terms of ensuring safety  during this pandemic.

“With the increasing number of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices deployed across urban areas, the solution could very well lie within the data gathered from these cities. If analysed regularly and accurately, data could offer insights on your city’s strengths and pain points to facilitate informed decision making that can help create an equitable lifestyle.”

This is where predictive analytics play a crucial role – helping cities improve mobility, infrastructure and resource management in a cost-effective manner.

Identify the patterns and then break them

Predictive analytics can unlock hidden patterns. Imagine if we could forecast how traffic on a street is impacted due to monsoon or how rescheduling the sequence of traffic signals by few seconds can reduce the number of cars, resulting in less pollution. Multiple simple and effective solutions can be identified through analytics.

“During these times, we have seen few countries who have been able to track and fight the pandemic by conducting timely analysis of data generated through IoT devices in real-time. They have successfully leveraged data science to develop a monitoring system to identify and assess every citizen’s travel history and the level of exposure to the virus.”

Several other cities have also explored the potential of predictive analytics to bring positive changes for its citizens. Los Angeles is using data to maintain clean streets, water management, assess and enhance diversity in police recruits, increase participation in sports and many other such initiatives. Barcelona has installed smart irrigation systems across parks and gardens to gauge humidity levels underground and effectively assess water requirements. This exercise resulted in saving 600,000 litres of water annually. These are just two of the many cities deploying intelligent, data-driven solutions to address everyday challenges, thereby benefiting the environment, people and ultimately, economy.

A safer, sustainable society

India is taking note of these best practices across geographies and making its way to exploring the wonders of analytics. The Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission has received further allocation of INR 6450 crore this fiscal and the addition of five new cities to the list of existing 100 smart cities. Predictive analytics will be the foundation for the success of smart cities by addressing critical areas such as public safety, upgraded mobility and more.

• Public safety

Insights from real-time crime mapping can help in identifying high crime-prone zones in the city and such data can be immensely helpful during crisis situations by means of equitable resource distribution for problem-solving. According to McKinsey, cities that deploy the right technological applications could reduce crime rates and fatalities by as much as 10%. The same solution can be applied to monitor areas with highest COVID cases and build strategies around treating each and every individual curbing the spread of the virus.

• Employee or worker safety

To enhance the employee or worker safety, the predictive analysis is being used to determine safe distancing as well as avoiding safety incidents by understanding patterns how an individual navigates in a given work environment. The predictive safety solution is also being considered in safe social distancing norms for resuming business operations in some smart cities post COVID-19 restart.

• Upgraded mobility

Enhancing urban mobility has been one of India’s top concerns. And why not? If we look at Bengaluru, it’s the most traffic-congested city in the world. Data enables real-time traffic monitoring and control to understand the connection between modes of transport for faster travel times by recognising patterns and highlighting the root causes, reducing operational cost and increasing efficiency.

• Effective waste management

India generates over 62 million tonnes of solid waste every year. The analysis of the waste generation pattern as per the area, season and times the dustbin is filled to a decided level can help build an area wise strategy to collect waste. This can help in reducing cost, manpower, overflowing of waste, and reduction of carbon emission.

• Sustainability and growth

Data analytics allows cities to monitor and manage an extensive range of infrastructure and to use predictive maintenance in the right areas to minimise costs, risks and carbon footprints. It also has a role to play across all aspects of public service and city operations. Think about the impact of providing energy-efficient buildings, air quality sensors and renewable energy resources that result in higher operational efficiencies and a decrease in environmental damage.

“A simple insight based on usage data and seasonal patterns can suggest best mode of energy optimisation from a renewable source or a simple control of smart street lights or building lighting control based on movement can significantly reduce carbon footprints. For instance with discussions around malls, shops and eateries to be open for 24/7 in Mumbai, here predictive analytics can monitor the number of footfalls.”

The data can aid owners of the premises and authorities to strategies the workforce, usage of electricity and the success ratio of this initiative. As the smart city projects make their journey from innovation to regulation, there are many hurdles we are yet to overcome. India has reached the experimentation stage, where both government and businesses have started to leverage advanced technologies.

While there is no end to the data generated by cities, gathering, storing and analysing data requires robust infrastructure and experienced human capital. Yet, we must start… and start now. For a country to achieve equitable resource distribution is the first but crucial step to paving way for the right social and economic opportunities.

Discover more about how IoT lays the foundations for the buildings of the future.

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Ask somebody what the future looks like and chances are they’ll describe a scene straight out of a movie: robot butlers, sci-fi style pod houses and driverless cars ferrying people around a clean, utopian landscape.

R&D investments and tests done by automakers worldwide might suggest that autonomous vehicles are on the verge of becoming an everyday reality. But we’re still some years off from that sci-fi movie scene.  It will be an evolution too: from today’s connected cars to future driverless vehicles. As more and more cars get connected, securing them against cyber-attacks is crucial – the industry must get this right in order for autonomous driving to become a reality.

Keeping hackers at bay

People often forget that the increased connectivity already in connected cars on our roads comes with a heightened risk of nefarious activity. IoT devices are often targeted by hackers because many have security vulnerabilities by design. Connected cars are seen as a high-value target by hackers because in a fairly short time, vehicles have gone from being relatively dumb lumps of metal to four-wheeled boxes of highly sophisticated computers – with sensors, transmitters and connectivity, capturing a wealth of often sensitive and personal data every second.

“Cyber criminals are interested in compromising both the physical security of the car and the volume of valuable data these vehicles produce and transmit to manufacturers and service providers.”

Automakers often rely on third parties to supply the systems that add connected functionality to their vehicles, but vehicle makers must impose their own security standards to ensure there are no hidden vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. In the most extreme cases, the larger potential attack surface presented by a connected vehicle could in theory allow somebody to unlock and steal it, or even potentially take over the controls of a vehicle in a worst-case scenario. This may sound far-fetched, but this scenario has been demonstrated by security researchers under controlled conditions.

With cars now creating, storing and communicating more data than ever before, manufacturers and service providers must take steps to ensure that breaches and other privacy related incidents are kept to an absolute minimum.

Connecting cars with the wider IoT ecosystem

As V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication becomes more widespread, cars will share data with the wider IoT ecosystem too, including traffic management and parking control systems, hazard warning mechanisms and emergency services, infotainment services and even your smart home. But with vehicles constantly sending and receiving information in order for these services to operate effectively, the hugely increased number of access points and transmissions puts data at greater risk than ever.

“These services demand the use of sensitive personal data, from payment information to confidential insurance details, meaning a ‘mobile-edge-to-cloud’ approach to security must be adopted.”

This involves safeguarding data at every point of its journey between the car and network, while every connected component onboard the vehicle must form part of a ‘community of trust’.

It starts with equipping the SIM cards which enable connectivity in vehicles with encryption, so that both data in motion and at rest is protected – in other words, safeguarding data both on the network and at the device level. Through ‘communities of trust’, automakers could create multiple secure ‘vaults’ within the car to which only the vault owner – such as a dealership or the vehicle owner – have access. Through this approach, the automaker could gather data through the SIM in its vault to ensure the car is operating safely, the dealership could use the SIM for keeping track of maintenance logs, and the vehicle owner could trust that his or her private information stays private.

 For an additional layer of security in vehicles, more and more car manufacturers are also adopting embedded SIM (eSIM) technology. eSIMs make critical software updates easier to roll out, over the air (OTA), without needlessly disrupting the driver or requiring a trip to the dealership.

Data = power

Like the smartphones of today, connected cars will gradually collect all kinds of user data to provide a smooth and personalised experience, so when it comes time to sell a vehicle or just to hand it back to the rental company, all personal details should be wiped to prevent misuse – just like restoring a phone to its factory settings.

“With the imminent proliferation of low-latency 5G networks acting as a catalyst, connected car services are only going to gain more traction and usage will become more widespread.”

As connected car technology becomes more advanced, the data gathered by each vehicle will potentially hold more power. Insurers will take advantage of more sophisticated sensors to gather information on things like driving competency, vehicle use and even potential alcohol consumption, which can then be used to inform decisions the company makes.

Although discounts on premiums and other similar benefits may help to convince drivers, they are unlikely to feel comfortable using such closely integrated services with embedded monitoring unless they’re totally convinced the technology is secure.

It’s clear that the automotive industry is on the edge of a hugely exciting time but there are also challenges in the road ahead. For connected and then autonomous vehicles to be a common sight on our roads in the future, totally secure connectivity and trustworthy platforms must be developed and embraced by all.

Discover more about how existing cars can be retrofitted to be connected here.

The post Ensuring privacy and security in the age of connected cars appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

For many businesses, successfully launching an Internet of Things (IoT) enabled service or application would seem like a reason to celebrate in itself. Yet, the real value of IoT comes from the data-led insights that can be derived from connected devices.

The best way to manage and drive value from IoT data is with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), which is able to detect data patterns that might not be obvious to the human eye. Add in the strong degree of trust that distributed ledger technologies (DLT) like blockchain can bring to IoT – and you’ve got a powerful combination of three technologies that could have a truly transformational impact on how businesses operate and interact with their customers, and how people engage with the world around them.

The two ways to leverage IoT data

Imagine you’re a business with a fleet of cars, trucks, airplanes or freight containers. Using the IoT, you’re able to capture two types of information that can be collected from them: primary operational information – such as location, engine condition and temperature data – to support the day-to-day operations of your business; and aggregated big data – which you can use to analyse a much broader range of factors about your services and enhance them through R&D, for example.

Organisations may already use some form of analytics to manage both types of information. However, the enhanced capability of AI platforms to capture patterns of behaviour in both people and ‘things’, combined with the strategic insights these platforms can offer, could take a business to the next step.

“Increasingly, there is a need for IoT data to be shared across a wider IoT ecosystem too in order to maximise its benefits.”

That’s where DLTs such as blockchain come in, allowing IoT data to be shared and stored securely across that ecosystem and value chain.

Power of IoT, AI and DLTs in connected cars

The connected car ecosystem is the perfect example of how AI, IoT and DLTs interact. As a car travels along, it generates and receives information as part of a wider IoT ecosystem, or vehicle-to-anything (V2X), environment. So, when it passes through an automated toll booth a transaction occurs that captures information about the vehicle, but it also requires access to a payment ecosystem that enables the secure, automated transmission of funds from the owner to the toll operator. This could be done in a variety of ways, including e-wallet technology, banking, charge card, etc.

“Perhaps more significantly than that though, each transaction becomes part of potentially millions of transactions that can be analysed by a big data AI engine.”

This could determine characteristics about the volume of cars going through the toll system, the time of day, type of vehicle, type of payment, direction, and so on, helping different players in the connected car ecosystem to understand more about their customers, vehicles and road usage. This data can then be used to determine not just how many toll booths need to be open at different times of the day, or when to close them for maintenance – but also if there might be market potential for opening a new supermarket or service station targeting commuters, for example.

The challenges with IoT, AI and DLTs

The architecture and hardware/software environments associated with IoT, AI and DLTs are different, which can make it challenging for businesses to bring them together in an-easy-to-operate solution.

“Each of the three technologies also has its own fragmented systems and standards, with an array of security, data privacy, legal, and ethical issues.”

There is also cynicism, technology fatigue and downright opposition to adoption in some IoT, AI and DLT use cases.

In my view, that just shows that there is a need for businesses to better demonstrate the value of using these technologies, whether in combination or not, to improve the services they provide while addressing potential customer concerns.

For example, blockchain should be considered only when there is a clear need for information to be shared in a secure, immutable way. In the case of an IoT value chain, the constituent organisations in the chain need to agree on what events need to be managed within some form of DLT framework. It shouldn’t be applied to every IoT project just to look cutting edge.

“For these technologies to gain acceptance as valuable, we need to see greater focus on converged solutions that solve real-world problems.”

As for AI, data from IoT devices in remote locations might only be providing a fraction of the overall data feeds powering an AI engine. This means the use of AI needs to be selective, rather than the default option. There are clear limitations in the blockchain architecture which restrict the sheer volume of data collected from remotely connected devices too. Like with AI, only some data can be processed – so it is important to understand the importance of data management required for near real-time reconciliation on a blockchain.

As everything from cities and cars to hairdryers and cat flaps becomes ‘smart’, and connectivity becomes more pervasive in the world around us, businesses need more efficient, intelligent and secure ways to capture, process and share the growing volume of IoT data. Individually, IoT, AI and DLTs are already changing the way businesses operate – but in combination they could change our world forever.

Find out more about how IoT is going to radically transform our cities here.

The post Finding new ways to drive value from the Internet of Things appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

What kind of car do you drive? A Prius, Focus or maybe a Golf? Perhaps you’re on first-name terms and prefer to refer to your ride as Pete, Freddy or Gerry? Regardless of whether you find rechristening your wheels quirky or cringeworthy, a 2018 survey by the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency found that nearly 30% of drivers have given their car a nickname. While Brits might be more likely to name their cars than drivers in the US or India, it does show that some people treat their cars almost like big, mechanical pets.

It’s of course not just because of emotional attachments that people are often keen to keep hold of their vehicles for as long as possible. After all, buying a new car is expensive. And, even when it’s time to swap Freddy for a newer model, most drivers in the US, for example, opt for a used car instead of a new one. In 2018, out of the almost 60 million cars sold in the country, around 40 million were used – or pre-loved – vehicles, despite newer models with more advanced technology coming to market. So, the average age of vehicles on American roads has gone up by around 4% in the last five years, reaching the tender age of almost 12 in 2019.

This might sound surprising, especially as automakers worldwide are racing to bring to market the latest and greatest connected cars and investing in R&D to enable autonomous driving in the future.

“Ovum predicts that there will be 1.5 billion cars on the world’s roads by 2022, with 300 million of them boasting different connected features.”

That might sound like a lot, but it’s only 20% of the planet’s total fleet, meaning more cars may well have nicknames than IoT capabilities.

For maximising the wider impact of IoT, a lack of connected cars could become a problem. Many of the wider benefits of IoT, such as traffic management systems, road safety initiatives and smart city infrastructures, rely on as many points creating data as possible in order for systems to build up a comprehensive picture of what’s happening within the world. The better the insights, the more effectively things can be managed – but the more vehicles that aren’t on the grid the less efficient the whole system can be.

This disparity might seem like a significant hurdle for transport-based IoT to overcome, but it also could also create a great new opportunity for a burgeoning ‘aftermarket’ IoT industry.

“If connectivity and sensors could be retrofitted to a higher number of older cars, the much-talked-about vision of a truly smart cities and connected car ecosystems could become a reality for more people around the world.”

Given the high proportion of older vehicles on the roads, it will be a challenge to equip them with IT connectivity. Vehicle manufacturers and more importantly local dealers, could both be well-placed to install the necessary SIM cards and sensors in cars that were originally built without them, ensuring that everything works holistically. However, this could also pave the way for new dedicated connectivity equipment installers. Such specialist businesses could also offer other value-added services and expertise, including apps for diagnostics or geo-located breakdown and repair assistance.

Once a previously unconnected vehicle has been given a new lease of life with IoT, drivers and passengers could soon be looking for ways to take advantage of their car’s new data-enabled capabilities. The average connected car generates around 4TB of data each day, and it’s not just used to help the traffic flow in your local city centre.

“Onboard sensors can capture data to monitor road and driving conditions to inform other road users of areas to avoid and alert local authorities to highways that are most in need of attention.”

They can also collect data on car usage and driver behaviour, which in turn helps with usage based insurance policies and helps fleet managers make business decisions remotely based on driver performance. All the data collected could steer automakers’ future vehicle designs too, thanks to the wealth of data on drivers’ preferences at their fingertips.

One issue with retrofitting older cars with SIMs and IoT-enabled sensors does remain, however. Unlike cutting-edge eSIMs – which are built into vehicles at the factory – traditional SIMs are always associated with a specific mobile network operator. And that network might be super-fast in some places and have not-spots in others, leading to a poor driving experience in the newly connected car. The latest eSIMs however, give the car manufacturers the flexibility to choose the best mobile network and swap connectivity depending on the different data needs of various connected car applications.

Ultimately, regardless of how a car gets connected, the crucial thing is that more drivers are able to tap into the opportunities that IoT offers: seamless access to infotainment, predictive maintenance and navigation insights, not to mention the many way in which cars could communicate with the world around it. It will all make our roads safer and people’s lives easier too. Given this transformational potential – not to mention the new revenues that it could generate – automakers should consider how to connect both new vehicles and their older cousins already on the roads – including the ones with nicknames.

Read more about the technologies revolutionising the automotive industry here. 

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Keeping track of who had access to your data centre and knowing who was responsible if things went wrong used to be pretty simple. As long as you knew who had a key to the server room, there was only ever a fairly small pool of people it could be. But with 90% of businesses now using some type of cloud service, keeping everything safe has become a more complicated proposition. With the rise of hybrid- and multi-cloud solutions that complexity is only going to increase.

“When a breach or leak occurs, determining what happened or who is responsible is not just about placing blame – it’s crucial in ensuring that it doesn’t happen again.”

Yet, with multiple organisations now involved in providing an enterprise with a range of cloud-based applications and services, that’s not necessarily a simple process.

To help ascertain who’s responsible for what, major cloud service providers (CSPs) have sought to draw a line between security in the cloud, which the customer is responsible for, and security of the cloud, which the CSP takes on. That means the underlying hardware, software, networking and facilities are handled by the CSP, but anything on top of that – such as applications, customer data, encryption and network configuration – is the enterprise’s responsibility.

“Splitting the job makes it more manageable and ensures all parties involved are aware of their roles in keeping the business safe.” 

This distinction has regulatory implications too. For example, in the EU, GDPR laws state that the data owner is always responsible for its security and must demonstrate that it has carried out due diligence in the search for partners. So, blaming the service provider after a breach isn’t an acceptable excuse, even if it might be partly responsible. Considering that GDPR fines can be eye-wateringly high, any organisation that stores or processes personal information about EU citizens within EU states must make sure all parts of their business are aware of their responsibilities.

 It’s more difficult than it looks…

 Cyber security is today a 24/7/365 job, yet many companies lack experience to control usage, protect data and guard against threats such as malware and ransomware.

“According to analysts at 451 Research, less than a third (32%) of enterprises have protected their cloud environments against data leaks, and less than half (46%) use identity management technologies to safeguard their clouds.”

Shadow IT adds an extra layer of complexity, making it increasingly difficult for organisations’ internal IT teams to keep cloud-based systems, applications and data safe.

It doesn’t stop there. The more hybrid IT becomes, the more challenging securing different cloud environments becomes too. Businesses with hybrid digital infrastructures need to have visibility and control over their cloud workloads, with cohesive policies and processes and ensure that their CSP keeps their security promises.

Find the right partner to share the burden

A managed security service provider (MSSP) can help businesses tackle these challenges, taking on all (or just certain aspects) of an enterprise’s cyber security, from management and operation to verification of IT controls. By harnessing an MSSP’s expertise, integrated platforms and tools, and experience in managing hybrid multi-cloud infrastructures, businesses are able to reduce the operational complexities of safeguarding their digital infrastructure, applications and data.

As more and more CTOs and CIOs have to find a way of balancing the growing technology needs of the business with meagre increases in IT budgets, working with an MSSP can also be financially more sustainable than a DIY approach. This is because of the predictability of OPEX spending that comes with working with an external partner, compared with the huge CAPEX spending that businesses would need to make to ensure they have the required cyber-security tools, capabilities and expertise in-house.

“Fundamentally, cloud-enabled digital transformation helps businesses become more agile and scale services more easily than when they relied on on-premises infrastructure.”

This enables them to keep up the pace in increasingly competitive industries. While embracing a cloud-first approach, businesses must always remember that cloud security is a team effort – just assuming that your chosen CSP has got it covered is not an option.

Sharing the responsibility ensures that everybody in the chain remains vigilant against attacks and leaks.

Read about the power of data and the debate between anonymity and privacy here.

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Imagine eating at a restaurant where the diners, waiting staff and kitchen couldn’t communicate with each other at all times. It’d be chaos, wouldn’t it? Orders would end up at the wrong tables, dishes would go cold, and some people would probably end up getting nothing to eat at all. Even if just one part of the process was affected the results would be disastrous. Customers would walk out, a mountain of food would get chucked away and the amount of money being wasted would soon cause the place to go out of business.

What can we learn from our calamitous canteen? That a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, whether it’s made of restaurant staff or a combination of producers, warehouses, logistics companies and vendors. It only needs one part of the sequence to fail or underperform and the whole thing can be jeopardised.

Logistics’ transformation journey

With the rise of digital transformation, shipping companies, freight forwarders, road hauliers and related supply chain companies are increasingly using data to inform and communicate how they manage their businesses.

“When transporting anything from A to B, the more you know about the process from start to finish the better.”

It allows companies to improve their operations in multiple areas, including visibility, planning and efficiency, and customer service. More sophisticated connectivity enables access to real-time information on the status of shipments and inventories and allows businesses to source the most cost-efficient transport options and plan the best routes.

In the past, once a shipment had started on its journey, opportunities to track its condition and progress were limited, with cargoes spending the majority of their time in blind-spots, but with the capabilities offered by connected vehicles and sensors on pallets and containers, both customers and suppliers can keep track of exactly where their consignments are at every step. Especially in the context of Just-in-Time deliveries, real-time access to accurate information is paramount.

“Being able to tell your customers exactly where your products have been and when, right down to the minute, could also become a real point of differentiation between one business and another.”

This doesn’t just mean recipients know when to expect deliveries, it can have a huge impact on how they manage what’s coming and going. When shipping food or perishable goods, shipments must be carefully handled at every stage to ensure they don’t get spoiled. If one arrives unexpectedly and the receiver doesn’t have the capacity to deal with it straight away the cargo can be put at risk.

Not just getting from A to B

With the rise of IoT, logistics companies can also provide insight into the condition of cargoes throughout the journey, ensuring that their integrity is maintained and helping to avoid any nasty surprises on arrival. With every step of the chain being monitored on a granular level and in real time, this can help to limit waste, optimise inventories, reduce operating costs and maximise profits. 5G will only make this more accessible for more businesses and increase the number of vehicles and hubs in the wider IoT ecosystem that can communicate with each other.

Additionally, as more companies embrace the opportunities offered by technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, many supply chain processes will be automated further, and demand will be calculated without any human involvement at all. Amazon owns a patent on predictive shipping, which will use analytics to anticipate demand and start the process before items have even been ordered.

“Products will be shipped to distribution centres in regions where they’re expected to be needed and diverted to specific areas when the orders come in, shortening the overall fulfilment time significantly.”

So, in the not-too-distant future, the shipping process will be able to predict demand in advance and start products on their journey in anticipation.

Increased automation of the supply chain will also see the proliferation of robots, particularly in warehouses where loading and unloading can be done more quickly and with less opportunity for errors. According to Deloitte, 88% of supply chain professionals think that robotics and automation will allow organisations to manage risk and improve predictability. Eventually, this will also extend to the actual driving, as autonomous trucks begin to replace traditional haulage vehicles, with AI drivers that won’t be constrained by a maximum number of hours they can spend behind the wheel.

With the logistics industry also likely to come under increased scrutiny for its impact on the environment, digital transformation initiatives can help companies to minimise their carbon footprint by streamlining their processes.

These developments invariably involve many partners and various different technologies. All these innovations will be underpinned by reliable, borderless connectivity through a best-in-class global infrastructure, which will enable real-time access to data-enabled insights end-to-end. The impact it will have on user experience, supply chain agility and overall efficiencies in the logistics sector cannot be underestimated.

If you’re interested in other innovations affecting the vehicular industry, have a look at our blog exploring advances being made across the connected car lifecycle.

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Today’s IT industry comes under a fair amount of criticism for the high levels of CO₂ it is responsible for. Data centres – where cooling typically accounts for half of all power consumed – are the most common culprits. That is why companies in the Tata Group use the latest techniques to cut such emissions, including low carbon cooling and waste heat recovery systems. 

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) found a different and fundamental way to improve its carbon footprint as a by-product of its quest for ever-more-effective physical security and cyber-security…

The hidden burden of traditional CCTVs

At TCS, like in most large global businesses, a major part of our physical security strategy is closed-circuit TV (CCTV) monitoring. We recently took a close look at how we manage CCTV at our facilities in India and the numbers were staggering: more than 150 buildings―from small offices to huge data centres―are overseen by nearly 6,000 video cameras. Their output was kept on tape for six months, each with a weekly backup tape stored remotely. In a never-ending cycle, thousands of tape copies were constantly in transit.

“The penny really dropped when we investigated the environmental impact of that process.”

Across India, 6,000 CCTV tapes were being driven a total distance of some 4.3 million kilometres every year to and from fireproof media stores. We calculated if the vehicles were diesel-powered and returning a modest 15 kilometres per litre, then at 2.65 kilograms of CO₂ per litre, transporting those tapes would create over 760 metric tonnes of CO₂. This was a conservative estimate. Allowing for maneuvering and tick-over, the actual CO₂ burden would certainly be much higher.

Partners in protecting the environment

“Like in all Tata Group companies, corporate responsibility and sustainability is at the core of TCS, extending to people, planet and profit.”

So, digitising our CCTV operation was a golden opportunity to reduce our impact on the environment.

We worked with Tata Communications to reimagine our CCTV video storage in the cloud, with geo-redundancy through separate, virtual backup domains in green data centres across the country. We couldn’t risk the overload of carrying CCTV data traffic over our corporate network. Using the public internet was not an option either. We solved the issue by using Ethernet links to create a firewall-protected extension to our intranet for the CCTV traffic.

Profiting people and the planet

The sustainability dividend of our re-imagined CCTV data storage will be huge. Thousands of tapes will no longer be transported back and forth, slashing our annual carbon footprint by more than 760 metric tonnes.

Among other benefits, we’ll be able to free up large amounts of physical storage space for better use. We’ll save annual media expenses of US$70,000. We’ll no longer waste 4,000 man-hours a year labelling, packaging, and shipping tapes. Highly qualified IT staff will be able to do more value-add work. And having footage digitised and online means suspect images can be accessed in minutes rather than days, making security investigations happen in near-real time.

We’re now in the process of rolling out the CCTV storage solution globally to multiply the positive impact of this initiative on the planet.

“When it comes to the increasingly important search for ways to reduce carbon footprints there’s an object lesson: one shouldn’t only look in the obvious places.”

It’s not often that a digital transformation project yields quantifiable benefits for people and the planet while improving profitability―all in one go. By re-thinking how we approach CCTV storage in our facilities throughout the world, we’re doing just that.

Discover how to find the best cloud solution for your business, with this step-by-step guide from Tata Communications’ Rajarshi Purkayastha.

The post Sustainable security using cloud solutions appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Technology has already changed the way we hail taxis, order our Friday night takeaways, and pay our bills without getting out of bed, but as the Internet of Things – combined with technologies like cloud, edge computing and AI – evolves to better serve businesses’ needs, we will see digital transformation across all kinds of sectors. Here’s a snapshot of a few industries that IoT will change for good.

Farming

Over the years, inventions such as the seed drill, the plough and fertilisers have had a dramatic impact on the way many farmers operate – but data generated through enhanced connectivity and the use of IoT devices will ensure they can make the very most of what they produce.

“Out in the fields, sensors in the earth will give farmers a far clearer picture of soil conditions and allow them to make better-informed decisions in order to increase crop yields.”

Similarly, sensors placed on livestock allow farmers to keep a closer eye on the health of their herds, picking up potential health problems before they have a chance to spread to other animals.

Construction

Employees of major construction companies could be working on a new shopping centre in Spain one day and checking in on the progress of a state-of-the-art football stadium in Russia the next, which makes borderless connectivity essential to staying on top of things. They need to be able to access all company systems without clocking up huge roaming charges or running into connectivity issues, no matter which corner of the globe their work takes them to.

“Meanwhile, IoT sensors can also enable previously impossible levels of monitoring, ensuring that structures maintain their integrity both in construction and afterwards, avoiding reliance on periodic inspections to catch potential problems and instead providing advance warnings of when maintenance work is required.”

This relies on affordable, low-demand, always-on connectivity no matter where in the world the project is.

Food and beverage logistics

Travelling can be an arduous enough process when you’re a human being strapped into a reclining seat, with a catalogue of films to watch and people on hand to serve you food and drink as and when required, so imagine what it’s like if you’re a tomato packed into a crate or a bottle of wine stowed away in a dark box.

Any business that transports products internationally can benefit from better monitoring of the process, particularly when conditions on the journey can affect the quality of the cargo when it arrives at the other end.

“IoT and borderless connectivity not only allow companies to keep track of the progress made by logistics vehicles, but sensors onboard can also monitor the temperature and condition of the cargo, ensuring that it’s transported correctly and arrives exactly as it left.”

In the wine making industry, for example, sensors in different parts of the vineyard could also give winemakers better insight into the health of their crops, the sugar levels in the grapes, and the conditions of the soil, to help ensure the high quality of wines each year.

Healthcare

Hospitals and healthcare facilities are veritable data factories, generating huge amounts of information on patients every single day. Appointments, test results, and patient monitoring systems all contribute to the torrent of information flowing out of each one, so as IoT devices become more sophisticated and widespread, and more medical equipment gets connected, there is an opportunity for medical and administrative staff to harness this data to improve the quality of care.

Devices that remotely monitor a patient’s blood pressure, for example, and relay this information to a healthcare professional in real-time could help identify patterns and support treatment planning, as well as alert a nurse or doctor if severe issues emerge. Through new telehealth applications, IoT is also transforming healthcare in remote areas.

Emergency services and maintenance

Most people use wearables to keep fit – but for someone with a dangerous job it could be the difference between life and death.

“In hazardous environments, IoT-enabled wearables, like sensors incorporated into protective clothing, can monitor workers’ fatigue and stress levels, particularly those who work with potentially dangerous equipment; ensure they’re not being exposed to harmful substances; or just track their location using GPS and keep them in regular contact with co-workers.”

This is just a snapshot of the transformational potential of IoT – but they demonstrate that the capture, movement and management of IoT data, and leveraging this data for actionable insights, is only possible with reliable, secure connectivity. Increasingly, edge computing and AI are also being leveraged by businesses in IoT use cases to enable real-time data analytics for immediate decision making and action by the device itself.

With Mobile World Congress 2020 just a few months away, my mobility and IT colleagues and I will be delving deeper into how different industries are harnessing the power of IoT, AI and edge computing to enhance operational efficiencies and open up new revenue streams. So watch this space…

Discover how technology is helping us live better and longer lives here.

The post 5 sectors that IoT will change forever: a snapshot appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Can you tell us a bit about what this competition is all about?

Bijaya: The Tata Varsity Pitch is an annual early-stage pitching competition that celebrates the best businesses coming out of colleges and universities across the country. It’s powered by the UK’s National Association of College & University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), and Tata has been supporting the Varsity Pitch for years.

As 2019 marks the 10^th anniversary of the competition, a few Tata companies like Tata Communications have come together to sponsor the different categories, help coach the shortlisted businesses and ultimately pick the winner.

“It’s been a bumper year for the competition, with 424 entries from across the country in total.”

What happened in the semi-finals?  

Amit: The semi-finals consisted of six categories, with five semi-finalists in each – so 30 presentations in total. Each of the semi-finalists started with a 2-minute pitch on their business, which was then followed by a 3-minute Q&A with a panel of three judges. All the semi-finalists were judged on three criteria: innovation, market opportunity – so, for example how the business will set itself apart from its competitors – and finally financial viability.

I was amazed by the semi-finalists’ ability to summarise what their business is all about in such a succinct, compelling way and not be fazed by the Dragons’ Den style format.

The category that we judged was IDEAS. To win this category, you might not have all the finer details around financial viability ironed out, and you might not have a website or even a prototype yet – but what you do need to have is a brilliant idea for a business and show that you’ve done your research on your industry.  

Tell us a bit about the semi-finalists in the IDEAS category.

Shubhra: There was a huge range of different business ideas, all in different stages of development. The entrepreneur behind Tree Sparks wants to help educate the next generation of environmentalists by lowering the barriers for young people to explore careers in forestry. The creator of MyPainScore is building an innovative app that leverages artificial intelligence to help people living with chronic pain to manage their pain and reduce their dependence on medication. The pair behind Calorie Balance wants to help tackle the growing obesity crisis in emerging markets like China by transforming people’s diets with their white bean products. And, the investors of Black Goblin Audio look to bring next-generation computer-generated synthetic sounds to visual content creators. Finally, the entrepreneur behind First Step has developed an idea for an ingenious self-administered forensic device that can detect the evidence of sexual assault.

“What all the entrepreneurs had in common was passion for their cause or the sector where they’re looking to make their mark.”

This also made picking the finalist of the five incredibly hard – but in the end we all agreed that First Step was the strongest contender and should go through to the finals.  

What made First Step stand out for you?

Bijaya: The pitch that Molly Steadman delivered for her idea was excellent from start to finish. She started by telling us how in the UK, 1 in 12 of female undergrad students are raped whilst at university, and due to memory blackouts and feelings of shame, most are unwilling to seek medical help or unable to report what has happened.

First Step helps victims of sexual assault by allowing them to take a swab test that detects the presence of the male Y chromosome. This then aims to give women the assurance and confidence to seek medical help and justice. To make First Step accessible for students, Molly would like to see it available at halls of residence at universities, for example.

We were impressed by her technical knowledge – she’d been doing a PhD in Biology. Yet, what really convinced us about the viability of her idea was that she had done her research and sought the counsel of experts in different fields from health clinics to forensics specialists to ensure that her solution is as good as it can be. Finally, she had passion and quiet confidence that shone through the 5-minute pitch.   

What will happen next?

 “The grand finale will take place in London on 20^th November during Global Entrepreneurship Week.”

Amit: The top prize is £15,000 in cash to help get a fledgling business venture off ground, or to turn an initial idea like First Step into reality. The three of us will be rooting for Molly for sure!

This is such an exciting and rewarding initiative for Tata Communications to be part of; it’s an opportunity for us to support innovation in different industries, and help bring about the next big idea that could have a long-lasting positive impact on both people and businesses. 

To learn more about Tata Communications’ approach to innovation and the Tata Varsity Pitch, read this blog post by Ankur Jindal, our Global Head of Corporate Venturing and Innovation.

The post Who will win the Tata Varsity Pitch 2019 entrepreneur competition? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

We’ve seen huge growth in the global MVNO market in the last decade, and industry analysts now estimate that by 2023, these nimble, relative newcomers to the mobile industry will generate close USD 100 billion in revenues. The secret of their success has often been in carving out a niche and targeting demographics that traditional mobile network operators (MNO) don’t want to or aren’t able to serve. Brands such as GiffGaff in the UK, VivoHub in Singapore and Ting in the US don’t own the infrastructure or frequencies their services run on. Instead they differentiate by offering certain packages or perks that are of particular value to specific customer groups.

Last year, we partnered with VivoHub to enable the MVNO to offer Singapore’s one million migrant workers a suite of mobile services that makes access to data, calling and messaging services simpler, and allows them to gift data to their family and friends back home. VivoBee’s 100,000 users make an average of 20 million call minutes per month, and VivoHub hopes to add 150,000 new subscribers by the end of this year.

Services like this demonstrate the creativity of MVNOs to tap into new growth opportunities – but also their reliance on traditional mobile services for revenues.

“Yet, one area that has continued to elude these players is IoT, and that’s where they need to set their sights on with a clear plan of action to continue compete with MNOs… many of whom have already grabbed the IoT opportunity both hands.”

GSMA Wireless Intelligence estimates that there are today just around 40 MVNOs in the M2M market, out of a total of around 1,600 MVNOs worldwide. The lack of MVNOs in the IoT space isn’t entirely their own fault. Their host MNOs have often been unwilling to offer them competitive rates, instead looking after their own interests and protecting their own share of the market.  MNOs have also been unwilling to give MVNOs control over devices, SIM cards and connections, and prevented them from managing policies, making updates and changing device parameters themselves.

But MVNOs don’t need to look far for a solution. By adopting the same approach that they took for the traditional telco business – targeting specific IoT market segments – MVNOs can take advantage of the myriad of new possibilities that IoT brings.

IoT should not be seen as just one singular sector, but multiple verticals. Whether it’s eHealth, smart cities, connected cars or industrial IoT – worldwide technology spending on IoT is predicted to reach $1.2 trillion by 2023. To put that in context, the smartphone industry is today worth approximately $522 billion.

“By identifying particular needs that they can satisfy through IoT, MVNOs can profit from the potential on offer.”

One example is public utilities – in these use cases there is often a need for low-bandwidth connectivity. This is because devices, like smart gas or electricity meters, are often placed in areas that can be difficult to access, so once you connect a new meter, there shouldn’t be a need to touch it again for the next 10 years.

On the other hand, digital signage is a sector that needs high volumes of data for bursting images and video out onto the signage posts. The frequency of sending data can differ, but bandwidth requirements are high. These examples demonstrate the wide-ranging connectivity demands of different IoT applications, and opportunities for MVNOs to target different markets with their IoT expertise.

That’s all well and good – but the barriers to entry for MVNOs remain, largely due to MNOs’ control over networks and capacity. So, what MVNOs need is a single, global, virtual mobile network that can connect all kinds of ‘things’ seamlessly and reliably, whatever their bandwidth demands. One such example is our Tata Communications MOVE platform.

“By challenging old industry conventions for cellular connectivity and forging new partnerships outside of the traditional MNO ecosystem, MVNOs are able to make their mark on IoT.”

This new approach will allow them to carve out a niche in this fast-growing market – just like they have done so successfully before in voice, messaging and data services in the traditional mobile segment.  From enhancing food production through connected agriculture and illuminating cities with smart lighting to enabling more efficient logistics with more intelligent transportation of goods – there are a whole range of IoT avenues for MVNOs to explore.

I talked about these opportunities for MVNOs in the IoT market at the recent MVNOs Asia event. If you’d like to know more, download our whitepaper.

The post Breaking down barriers for MVNOs in the IoT market appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In 110 AD, an earthquake is believed to have hit the Dian Kingdom in China, likely killing thousands without warning.

Around 20 years later, a scholar named Zhang Heng developed an ornate device designed to monitor movements in the earth. This early seismograph resembled a bronze vase, with eight dragons’ heads mounted on the outside, one for each of the main compass points. Each of the creatures had a ball in its mouth, which would be dislodged if shockwaves were detected, indicating the direction from which the seismic activity had occurred.

While the instrument could only notify observers of earthquakes that had already happened, in a time when sending messages could take weeks, it could still help when it came to sending assistance as swiftly as possible. Indeed, a few years later, one of the dragon’s balls dropped and a few days later a messenger arrived with news of a quake several hundred miles to the west – exactly as the detector had indicated.

“Nearly 2000 years on and even the most advanced early warning systems can only give a few seconds notice of an impending earthquake, but advances in the internet of things (IoT) mean we don’t have to rely on decorative dragons anymore.”

At fault

 The state of California is no stranger to earthquakes. It has a history of devastating tremors, with a 6+ magnitude pair in July responsible for buckled highways and damaged gas lines – but a recently launched early warning system could help to save lives in the event of another ‘Big One’ striking a major city and wreaking havoc.

SkyAlert is an IoT-based early warning system that is soon to launch in California, Oregon and Washington, but has been active in Mexico for a number of years, where it has around six million users. It uses a network of seismometers embedded in the walls of buildings to measure tectonic activity throughout the region. These sensors are connected by fibre-optic cables and only buildings with emergency back-up power are chosen to ensure there are no dropouts in connectivity.

When seismic motion is detected, a cloud-based platform sends notifications to users’ smartphones and wearables and activates standalone warning devices installed at schools and businesses in at-risk areas. Alerts are colour-coded depending on the intensity of the earthquake, with louder alarm sounds for more serious tremors. People who only respond to a quake when the shaking starts are likely to waste precious time working out what to do, which could increase their chance of injury or death, but SkyAlert can warn people up to two minutes before it strikes – 40 seconds sooner than other systems.

The system’s work isn’t done when the shaking stops either. Its standalone warning devices are based on Raspberry Pi computers and include accelerometers, plus Zigbee modules that are capable of detecting the presence of smoke and natural gas, so an initial assessment of the damage to the building can be made remotely. Users can also use the app to ask for help in the aftermath of a disaster, with a live emergency chat room allowing them to communicate effectively with help.

“The sensors can also be used to monitor temperature, humidity, and air pressure, so this kind of technology can also warn of incoming hurricanes, tornadoes and other destructive weather events.”

Sensors on trees can also measure temperature, moisture, CO and CO2 levels, which can help to predict which areas could be susceptible to forest fires in particularly hot and dry periods.

Prevention is better than cure

Technology cannot prevent disasters from occurring but it can help us to be better prepared in the event of a catastrophe. Companies such as One Concern use machine learning to identify and quantify the likely impact of natural disasters on particular neighbourhoods, helping to build long-term resilience, while IoT devices can be used to monitor the integrity of buildings, bridges and other parts of the infrastructure, alerting local authorities in advance when attention is needed and warning if structures are deemed unlikely to withstand any predicted extreme weather.

“IoT tech can also help to coordinate the emergency response and improve planning and communication between first responders.”

BlueLine Grid, for example, was set up by a former NYPD commissioner in 2014. A mobile communications platform that connects all users to a network of first responders, law enforcement officials and security staff, enabling the efficient use of voice, text and location services in the relief effort.

Even social media can play an important role. As well as Facebook’s ‘mark yourself safe’ feature, which is activated for users in particular locations after life-changing events, and chatbots to provide information to survivors far quicker than humans could, artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to analyse posts for cries for help. After the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal in 2015, volunteers quickly assembled thanks to tags in related photos and tweets, with AI then used to analyse the posts and identify which areas had the most urgent need for resources and assistance.

Evidently, we’ve come a long way since Zhang Heng’s 2000-year-old ball-based detection device, but there’s a part of its design that turned out to be particularly relevant. When a ball was dislodged from a dragon’s jaws it landed in the mouth of a bronze toad, while in 2010 a colony of the pond dwellers was observed unexpectedly abandoning its home five days before a quake hit less than 50 miles away. Coincidence? Maybe. Or perhaps the amphibious animals offer a surprisingly prescient early warning system when it comes to earthquake detection.

The potential benefits that IoT might bring are yet to be truly realised. Countries like India are paving the way, heavily investing in technology to create 100 smart cities by the year 2020. With an integrated tech infrastructure, India is developing an entire smart ecosystem able to monitor and adapt to the needs of its inhabitants in countless ways.

“Innovations in IoT will not only help to alert us to dangers around natural disaster, but consistently survey our environment to signal risk, such as exposure to pollution or resource shortages.”

With the ability to continuously evolve and build on this, we can harness the power to improve standards of living, raise health and ultimately save lives.

Read more about the potential of IoT in India.

The post Tech rescue: how IoT and AI can help save lives appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

When the polymath and Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, said: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” it’s unlikely he was referring specifically to the digital transformation of your business – but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t right.

Such a significant overhaul can be a daunting prospect for any business and it inevitably involves some challenges. But finding reasons to put it off in favour of sticking with the comfort of familiarity will only damage your performance in the long term.

Think about it: what have you really got to be afraid of? Here are five things you shouldn’t worry about if you want your company to thrive.

Don’t be afraid of failure

Failure has very negative connotations in our society but some of the most successful companies have developed through building minimum viable products and applying a mindset of continuous improvement and development. This approach gives companies valuable information around what makes their products and services better – with documented processes on the learnings which can be taken forward – offering clear knowledge and sight of what takes them closer to their end goals.

“Re-framing initiatives as ‘experiments’ that may or may not succeed promotes a culture of learning and tolerance for risk-taking and failure, which can yield greater results than if you constantly stick with what works.” 

After all, there’s a reason why many big players in the technology industry have become household names.

Don’t be afraid of the unknown

This fear of failure often stems from the unknown. But with technology moving fast, you won’t always be able to let others test the waters and give you a model to emulate, meaning you might have to take risks where the impact on the business is unknown.

These experiments don’t have to be big, enterprise-wide projects. In fact, according to our study conducted in conjunction with Singapore Management University – Executive Development (SMU-ExD), KPMG and DBS Bank, giving smaller, more nimble teams the resources required to try new things is more likely to cause a culture of innovation to spread organically, with a greater level of confidence, credibility and receptiveness.

Don’t be afraid of technology

Whether it’s Luddites in the late 1700s, destroying machinery in fear of losing their jobs, or prospective railway passengers refusing to board trains in the 1800s in case the high speeds (a terrifying 30mph) made their bodies melt, or concerns that the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks would slowly fry our brains, humans have a long history of being distrustful of new inventions.

So while new technology has the potential to significantly disrupt business practices and fundamentally change the way companies function, its impact shouldn’t be feared. Even as game-changing tech such as advanced robotics and artificial intelligence becomes commonplace, humans will continue to have the most important role to play. As a species, we are uniquely positioned to interact with machines to make sure they are achieving their full potential and serving our needs as much as possible.

Don’t be afraid of leading the way

Digital transformation is a company-wide process but C-suite leaders, particularly the CEO, have a critical role to play in its adoption being a success.

“Even if they’re not digital natives, for the CEO and other senior staff members to be seen embracing change and demonstrating its benefits has a huge impact on its acceptance by the rest of the company.” 

They must also play an active role in directing strategy and providing direction specific to the company, at least until the process has reached a stable position.

Don’t be afraid of empowerment

Digital transformation is all about creating a dynamic company with a fast-moving workplace culture, but that can be seen as a double-edged sword. As your staff become more empowered, they must also take responsibility for their own professional development in order to stay relevant.

From my experience, I can say that these steps lead to a stronger, more diverse workforce. Staff that upskill themselves in order to keep pace with the demands of the modern workplace can help to drive change within their teams. If Benjamin Franklin could upskill by experimenting with a kite in a thunderstorm, to the point that he was able to invent the lightning rod – it doesn’t get more empowering than that.

Read about the importance of tenacity when leading your business towards success.

The post Things you shouldn’t fear when digitally transforming your business appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

If you’ve only got a pond in your garden, you cannot sail a yacht in it. The same logic applies, when you’re try to run the latest bandwidth-hungry applications on legacy network infrastructure.

“Business leaders are increasingly adopting a new approach to operations and service differentiation through the strategic use of technology.” 

Known as Business 4.0, this transformation involves innovations in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data, analytics and the IoT, with enterprise networks playing a pivotal role in making this transformation journey a success.

Traditional networks are not optimized for the cloud. Organisations looking to take advantage of these Business 4.0-enabling technologies first need to prioritise a holistic network and WAN transformation to support a secure, hybrid environment that can cope with the rising demands placed on them.

What does SD-WAN adoption bring to the table? 

At Tata Consultancy Services, we’ve enabled countless customers to build more dynamic, adaptable and cognitive networks with next-generation technologies such as software-defined networking (SDN) and virtual network services (VNS). But there’s still some resistance out there to such significant change, particularly when it comes to software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN).

SD-WAN networks offer a number of benefits but the three that stand out for me are: total cost of ownership, agility and efficiency. Before you take the plunge, though, there are several things that must be taken into account.

• Cost of ownership: Firstly, consider whether your enterprise is displaying sufficient growth to see a return on your investment. In my experience it can take two or three years before businesses realise the financial benefits of the change, but we often see TCO being reduced by between 25 and 40 per cent.
• Agility: If your business is growing, though, the agility of SD-WAN can be a real benefit. Expanding to new sites would previously have taken between six and eight weeks, but we’ve seen that cut to under a week with SD-WAN – sometimes even as little as two or three days.
• Efficiency: Once in place, an SD-WAN can have a transformative effect on both network and operational efficiency for the enterprise. It’s particularly suited to cloud-driven traffic patterns, with features such as automation, self-provisioning, customised reporting and rich data analytics helping to make the most of the existing IT infrastructure.

Transformation approaches and considerations

SD-WAN implementation isn’t a one-size-fits-all process, though – it’s important to take your existing infrastructure into account. I encountered one organization that had chosen a particular technology that wasn’t suited to its current setup, and even after running a pilot scheme for 14 months, multiple hurdles were encountered in the first three or four sites alone. Subsequently, technology selection is being revisited.

“When enterprises move their workloads from the data centre to the cloud, it is prudent to redesign their links for greater affinity with the cloud. Without this, application performance can be negatively affected, which can impact the user experience and potentially cause the business to lose faith in the technology.”

One of the choices you’ll have to make is between a fully managed and a do-it-yourself SD-WAN. The former involves a third-party being responsible for the management of the service post-implementation, with a choice between a bundled network underlay or bringing your own network (BYON), while the latter involves the customer managing the entire solution independently.

A major consideration when deciding which approach to take should be aligned to the structure of your business. Companies that operate globally, with offices or branches scattered across multiple countries or continents around the planet, often have to rely on different service providers depending on which territory they’re in, therefore establishing multiple regional telco hubs. Irrespective of your final choice, some global network service providers are increasingly providing flexible, agile solutions that will enable you to make the most of your network infrastructure.

This choice also has implications for the security of your SD-WAN. Banks and financial institutions, for instance, do not want their transactions and associated traffic to be on a shared platform. For others, allowing traffic to go from the branch to the cloud means security considerations need to increase.

Traditionally, data centre traffic would go through a firewall, ensuring all the unified threat management is handled, but as the number of exit points increase, you need to improve intrusion protection and detection accordingly. Some SD-WAN solutions have integrated next-generation firewalls but if not, an organisation must address that at all points with complementary technology.

“Frequent patching and updating is essential, but with so many more potential points of vulnerability, you need to find a way to automate the process. If you only apply them to some sites and not others, it leaves your organisation open to attack.”

Some enterprises find these considerations off-putting, but the positives of implementing an SD-WAN far outweigh any perceived obstacles or drawbacks – and there’s never been a better time to do it. With cloud spends surpassing traditional IT spends in Q3 2018, the number of organisations using SD-WAN is expected to rise by 30 per cent by the end of 2019.

The benefit of an integrated solution

The partnership between TCS and Tata Communications delivers an end-to-end play for enterprises, combining our IT services and infrastructure capabilities to enable organisations to build a dynamic, business-responsive network.

Take the example of a deep-water drilling contractor in Europe, who wanted to consolidate their application and network providers to ensure that connectivity at their remote rigs remained stable. As an integrated operation, our One Tata approach resulted in an effective hybrid WAN solution, with SD-WAN-enabled singular accountability, and readiness in future for collaboration, security tools and applications.

Many of our customers have cited the network reach, IT expertise, consultative approach, reduced total cost of ownership, agility and synergy between TCS and Tata Communications as being instrumental in informing their decision – will your business be the next to benefit?

Read  Song Toh’s recent blog post about SD-WAN and network transformation.

The post The benefits of adapting to SD-WAN appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In 2016, a photograph taken of Mark Zuckerberg revealed that he’d taped over the camera and microphone on his laptop.

It felt vaguely ironic that the man behind Facebook was so paranoid about his privacy, but it raised an important question for many about the safety of connected tech. As internet of things (IoT) keeps growing in penetration, lots of so-called smart devices have revealed themselves to be anything but when it comes to security.

As these devices create and collect more data, they become more attractive to hackers.

“Gartner found that nearly 20 percent of organisations observed at least one IoT-based attack in the past three years.”

With a total of 20.4 billion connected ‘things’ predicted to be in use by 2020, sometimes even the most innocuous products can offer a way in for people with nefarious intentions as we see below…

Beware of the fish

Many people who go to Vegas come back with far less money than they went with, but it’s not usually due to a cyber-attack, much less one that started in a fish tank. However, that’s exactly how an unnamed casino in Sin City was once infiltrated, when an aquarium thermometer used for remote monitoring and feeding was used to gain access to the network and a list of the casino’s highest-spending visitors was stolen. The hackers stole 10GB of data in total, sending it to a remote server in Finland.

When autopilot strikes back

With modern cars becoming more and more like computers on wheels that you can drive, you don’t necessarily need to be behind the wheel to be in charge of the vehicle. In 2015, a pair of friendly hackers demonstrated a vulnerability in an automaker’s connected vehicle platform, which powered the in-car systems for their leading brands. While a journalist from Wired magazine drove his car through downtown St. Louis, USA, the hackers sent commands through the entertainment system, taking control of the car’s air-conditioning, stereo and windscreen wipers, before finally cutting the power to the wheels and allowing the car to roll to a stop.

And the beat goes wrong

In August 2017 nearly half a million pacemakers were recalled when a vulnerability was discovered that could allow hackers to alter a patient’s heartbeat. None of the radio-controlled devices, which were made by a leading healthcare company and sold in the USA, were reported as compromised but the potential damage that could be caused was critical, and firmware updates were applied to devices that had been implanted in order to prevent the weakness being exploited.

Lights out

Sometimes it’s not hackers you need to be wary of but the behaviour of IoT devices themselves. In 2018, cyber-security blog Limited Results took a hacksaw to a LIFX Mini White and discovered vulnerabilities with the smart bulb itself. Anyone with physical access to the product could extract the owner’s Wi-Fi password as it was stored in plaintext on the device, along with the RSA private key and root passwords. LIFX fixed the vulnerabilities with a firmware update but it raises important questions around the disposal of unwanted or defective smart devices.

Losing your voice

IoT products aimed at children will always raise extra concerns around security, especially when there are stories like the one involving CloudPets. The cuddly toys were removed from sale by retailers, including Amazon and eBay, after it was discovered that two million voice messages, which were recorded by children and uploaded via the toys’ accompanying smartphone app, were being stored in the cloud without any authentication required to access them. The database also included email addresses and passwords of parents who had bought the toys.

So what do these incidents tell us about the internet of things?

Firstly, it has opened up a vista of new exploit scenarios where attacks can come from anywhere.

“Products like these are susceptible because businesses often focus on the new feature set of the IoT device and the security aspect tends to be an after-thought.”

But with every new connected device, the threat landscape evolves that little bit more, meaning security tools need to be agile enough to cope at every point.

IoT devices are increasingly being used across diverse sectors including manufacturing and retail sectors and, as seen by the Vegas fish tank example, can be gateways to other parts of an enterprise’s network. Given that 80 per cent of the world’s data is kept on private servers and the punishments for breaching GDPR rules can be cripplingly severe, keeping hackers out has never been more crucial.

The fledgling nature of IoT is likely to make it an attractive target to hackers for the foreseeable future but emerging technologies can provide a potent defense in the fight against them. Implementing security analytics strategies based on Big Data can help identify anomalies in behaviour and usage across the vast populations of IoT that are getting launched, to pick on critical security incidents or misuse. Also, Blockchain, for example, can remove the need for a central authority in IoT networks, meaning devices in common groups can alert administrators if they’re asked to carry out an unusual task.

“Fundamentally, though, IoT should not be feared.”

With the correct safeguards in place it can deliver the improved processes, reduced costs and better-quality services it’s designed to provide.”

Read more about the importance of security in the digital age.

The post 5 IoT security shockers (and what they teach us about staying safe) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Contact centres as we know it have changed almost beyond recognition over the past 20 years or so. Earlier it was all about voice, database and software development kits (SDKs). Now we have real-time speech recognition, data analytics and APIs. Automation and robotics have taken the centre stage!

“What was once a department designed exclusively for dealing with telephone calls is now a multimedia hub handling multiple different streams of customer feedback.” 

To businesses of various sizes this has led to an almost overwhelming flood of communication, with customers expecting responses and resolutions more quickly than ever.

Those trying to deal with this with pure manpower alone will soon find themselves falling behind the competition, or having to invest heavily in staff to cope with the increased demand. But there are various technological measures that can help automate and streamline these processes, which not only relieves the pressure on the contact centres, but frees up time and resources, enabling agents to deal with more complex tasks.

At the most fundamental level, transforming to a cloud-based digital infrastructure increases scalability and cost efficiency, allowing teams to grow more easily in response to the needs of the business, but it also means you can offer a more proactive service that allows you to deal with customers across multiple channels.

“Embracing this kind of omni-channel communication allows you to gather valuable insight on customer journeys and offer a more personal feel with any communication and resolutions.” 

Furthermore, efficient and effective collaboration within and between different customer servicing teams, combined with innovative technologies, allow far greater use of the workforce’s collective knowledge and skills, no matter where they are in the world.

Human judgement and experience can also be augmented through the use of artificial intelligence and analytics. Basic things such as call routing can be handled by AI, but it can also take on other repetitive tasks and free up human employees to do more complex jobs or handle cases that require the kind of emotional intelligence that machines can’t offer.

With contact centre activity generating more data than could possibly be monitored and processed by human resources alone, running analytics on the information allows companies to create dashboards that show all the relevant statistics for their business. These aren’t just for behind-the-scenes analysts to utilise, they can also be displayed in the contact centre to provide real-time feedback for staff on the ground to take advantage of.

Enterprises – large, medium or small – can leverage the power of AI and analytics to improve customer satisfaction.

“The scalable nature of cloud-based solutions means that the insights are available to all- sized businesses, enabling them to take advantage of all the data their systems generate.”

Vendors that offer hybrid cloud solutions, as Tata Communications does, also allow business to make the transition at your own pace and in direct response to business requirements.

As more and more organisations implement innovative contact centre strategies, the analytics will only become more sophisticated. Likewise, advances in IoT tech mean that a growing number of future customer service cases are likely to be initiated autonomously by connected devices, so a futureproof approach to digital infrastructure will pay off even more noticeably in the coming years.

With bigwigs like Google, Facebook, Apple, Twilio and Amazon entering this sector, the growth of contact centres is imminent. Businesses need to adapt and adopt innovation to ride on this growth.

Read about how India is paving the way for borderless connectivity. 

The post Enhance customer experience with building digital infrastructure appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Would you be surprised to learn that businesses leading with customer experience (CX) exceed revenue growth of those that don’t by almost 15%? A Salesforce report which surveyed over 6,700 consumers and business buyers worldwide found that by 2020, CX will overtake price and product as the key differentiator. It also found that emerging technologies play a key role in influencing customer expectations. Brands that manage to win the customer’s trust have a clear competitive advantage. In fact, a staggering 95% of customers said that trusting a company increased their loyalty. Clearly, experience-driven businesses outperform others on attracting, retaining, and engaging customers.

“CX is not only a big driver of growth and retention but it is also the key to survival and sustained differentiation.”

Trust and ease of use: foundational principles for CX

Sleep products retailer Casper is a perfect example of how trust and credibility can win the day. At a time when retailers and consumers were convinced that mattresses had to be bought in a physical store where they could be tested, Casper came up with an original concept—the ‘mattress in a box.’ The company would ship mattresses to customers who could test it for a whole 100 days, instead of the three minutes they would customarily receive at a physical store. A relatively simple concept and yet, the company, founded in 2014, posted revenues in the region of $400 million and is valued at over a billion.

Another brand that turned traditional customer experience on its head was Dollar Shave Club. Founded in 2011, it offered a $1 monthly subscription service to razors. Not only did they remove the friction of buying a low-involvement product like razors each month, but they also made it easy to do so. When customer experience expert Shep Hyken’s razor handle broke, they replaced it, no questions asked. As he says, “Everything Dollar Shave Club does, creates confidence. Confidence gives them a great reputation and loyal repeat customers – or should I say, members. Dollar Shave Club is the total package. Great value with great service.” Five years after inception, they were acquired by Unilever for $1 billion.

Clearly, both these brands set a benchmark for exemplary customer experience by demonstrating that they had the customer’s best interests at heart. They managed to delight customers through the two simplest and yet timeless CX principles: ease of use and trust.

“They both began at a disruptive point of the customer journey—not at the point of where their profits would come from but what would be most advantageous to the customer. The revenue followed.” 

B2B companies too would do well to learn from these examples—and innovate relentlessly.

The power of recommendation as a growth multiplier

In the digital age, the stakes and opportunities are higher than ever before. Digitisation works in two ways: one, it allows the disruption of traditional business models, and two, it allows positive and negative experiences to go viral.

Today, negative customer experiences are extremely costly because bad customer reviews almost always translate to poor Net Promoter Scores (NPS); in turn, impacting profitability. Potential consumers gather information from primary and secondary sources, including surveys and peer reviews. This could mean that purchase decisions are made entirely on the basis of another person’s testimonial.

As Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, once pointed out, “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” And they do. On an average, customers are about 50% more likely to report bad experiences than good ones.

As we can see from Shep Hyken’s description of his experience with the Dollar Shave Club, these testimonials often place emphasis on how an issue was handled, the support a customer received and the processes a company followed, rather than just the end resolution.

What it means to put customers first

Often, companies imagine that technical and functional prowess translates to better profit margins. While products definitely need to meet expectations, what sets one brand apart from another is good service support and a strong amalgamation of people and processes.

According to a Gartner survey, companies that implement customer experience projects should begin by focusing on ways they collect and analyse customer feedback. This is a great starting point for meeting your customers’ expectations.

The post The power of customer experience in the age of digitization appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The great promise of Big Data is to help organisations find the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’, to understand what their customer wants next before they even know they want it. By analysing ever-greater volumes of information we can know more, and become ever-more precise in the ways we identify the best new idea, new approach, or new solution.

“The challenge, of course, is that we don’t necessarily know what the ‘needle’ we’re looking for looks like. And just because we can find it today, does that mean we’ll still need it tomorrow? Or that the whole ‘haystack’ itself won’t get blown away by the winds of market change?”

These are the questions facing many enterprises as they attempt to pre-empt the disruption that technology and changing service dynamics will have on their industry. Some view this change and uncertainty as a great opportunity (even if it comes in the daunting form of commoditisation, as the Boston Consulting Group argued); some view it as a threat, which is to be counter-attacked.

Either way, it’s important for organisations to place themselves in their customers’ shoes in order to move as swiftly as possible ahead of the market. While Big Data can act as the ‘Ignition’ point for future product or service development, I believe it’s only the very start of a process that might ultimately lead to successful future delivery.

My view is that there are seven steps on the ‘Customer Thinking Framework’:

Step 1: Ignition: what can we understand from the Big Data available, and who is best-placed to act upon this opportunity?

Step 2: Identification: how can we focus the trends and shifts identified within our data to be really specific about the new opportunity at hand?

Step 3: Ideation: how can we flesh-out this initial grain of an opportunity to become something unique and with valid potential, and are there any close customers we can involve at this early stage?

Step 4: Insights: how can we tie the objective, numerical trends of our Big Data into the emotive, subjective, ’softer’ elements at play among our customer base?

Step 5: Implementation: how do the lessons we’ve learned from our ‘Insights’ allow us to iterate and adjust our initial idea, and how can we get customer input as early as possible?

Step 6: Impact: how can we road-test our idea with customers in a way that allows us to pinpoint its likelihood for success, and to course-correct as appropriate?

Step 7: Infrastructure: once we are confident about the approach on a small scale, how can we resource the broad delivery to take it to market at volume?

The principles of user-centred design (UCD) have become honed in the fields of app development and online delivery, as UX specialists highlight the virtues of thinking from an end user’s perspective at every stage of production.

“The opportunity for many of the system integrators we work with is to apply this thinking to a broader set of technology use cases and vertical market requirements.”

At Tata Communications, we see plenty of technologies, services and product lines which are awash with Big Data (the ‘Ignition’) and, crucially, can be linked to ‘Big Insights’. B2B social media tools and API-based collaboration tools, for example, are suitably mature for tech solution providers to understand the data underpinning usage trends; it’s critical now to build as holistic a picture as possible around the human insights which determine whether they will succeed or fail.

It can be easier, with Big Data already available to businesses in ways that may have been overlooked, to consult with industry experts who can advise where to discover and how to utilise these sources efficiently and effectively. Working hand-in-hand with these partners can allow collective Big Insights to be shared in a way truly founded on Customer Thinking.

Read more about data security one year on after GDPR was set in motion. 

The post Right needle in right haystack: from ‘Big Data’ to ‘Big Insights’ appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

So, you’re in a hurry to go to a store and buy a shirt – having decided you need a formal style. But you meet a sales adviser there who greets you like a long–lost friend and starts showing you some appealing, more casual alternatives. The result? You’re confused and no longer feel sure what you want after all.  Surprising as it may seem, this scenario says a lot about the cloud purchase process.

You may have read my earlier blogs ‘Turbulence in the cloud’ and ‘How to secure your cloud’ where I discussed how to make the most of the cloud and how to secure it. I recently had an interesting meeting with a customer who had read both of them and asked me a pivotal question: “What you wrote is fine. But how do I choose the right cloud?” If this challenge rings a bell with you – read on.

Make a plan

The good news is that, by following a series of carefully orchestrated steps, you can make the right choice that leads to a planned move to the cloud – so that you’re not just ready to operate there, but also innovate. The first stage involves assessing your current digital estate, planning the best approach to migrating, and then doing so without disruption to operations. You’ll then be better placed to manage the routine, optimise redundancy and re-innovate the overall architecture to upgrade.

“The following is how I broke down the steps and actions for my inquisitive customer. Hopefully, it’s an approach that can work for you too.”

Step 1: Where are you now?

Action 1: Make an inventory of your apps

Classify apps by those parameters that define your business user or customer requirements – such as whether they need to be:

• On internal or external infrastructure – namely within a private network or web-facing
• Rendered only on a desktop – or whether the apps need to be mobile–friendly too
• Regulated or non–regulated. And if regulated, what are the specific regulations they need to adhere to?

This process can help you define which apps can move to a public cloud and which should remain in a private cloud/hosted architecture.

Action 2: Take stock of the investment you’ve made in your data centre, servers, storage boxes, switch etc

How old they are on your books? If you’ve invested in the servers just a year back, your CFO is not going to be happy if you inform them you’re going to move to cloud and don’t know what to do with the existing investment.

Action 3: Define each app’s network requirement

Define the bandwidth requirement, the number of sessions, whether the app has external users or only internal users etc.

Action 4: Define the security architecture required for your app stack

This should not only depend on the confidentiality level of the payload information, but also consider regulatory compliances and end-user or end customer requirements.

Note: You can get help on this from CSPs or providers such as Tata Communications who can run this as a consultancy project for you.

Step 2: Plan the best approach towards migration – based on the holistic picture drawn out in step 1 above

For example, putting a figure on the investment you’ve already made will define when you can move cloud-ready apps to the cloud.

Step 3: Migrate without disrupting your operations

Plan a dual run of your business’ old and new architecture for at least three months (as per best practice) to ensure stable operations.

Steps 4 and 5: Run and optimise

While running BAU operations, you now relentlessly explore the opportunities to optimise. This can also mean bringing in apps from hosted architecture to the cloud when the servers are at the end of life (EOL). You can also run a step 6 here – where you can look at re–innovating to upgrade. But that’s for another day.

“Breaking up the process into easy–to–implement steps in this way will help you take things forward easily, as my customer did. This allowed them to define the right cloud migration approach, rather than simply selecting the vendor.”

In some cases – such as when we worked with Infiniti Retail – we’ve helped at every stage of the journey, starting with designing the right architecture for migration and working with them through to optimisation. Once they stabilise the migration, I’m sure that the next step – re-innovating the overall architecture – will not be too far away either.

Read more about steps you can take to improve your business in a digital age.

The post Kick confusion into touch when buying cloud appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Three years ago, Bluestar – an air conditioning and commercial refrigeration company was facing a massive challenge to provide timely customer-service across more than 1200 customer sites where their products were installed. The company then leveraged IoT to connect all installed units to a central location to identify and predict an issue, enabling them to start remote diagnosis thus saving cost and time. Within two years, the company succeeded in IoT enabling 600 customers’ sites and has now incorporated IoT across multiple areas in the company.

A major business disruptor providing a wealth of opportunities, IoT’s potential is limitless. However, today’s IoT market is overcrowded and fragmented, with different technologies being offered by different players, vying for both market share and mindshare, hindering the market from scaling. The result? A significant number of IoT projects are taking long to reach scale and creating the impact they intended to.

“A well-planned and well-executed Proof of Concept (PoC) is important to identify design challenges without large-scale financial or infrastructure challenges so that enterprises are empowered to begin an end-to-end IoT implementation journey.”

Through our experience and supporting research on the Indian IoT landscape, we believe that enterprises must keep in mind the 6 S’s right at the onset of designing their IoT roadmap: Solution, Surplus, Skill, Speed, Security and Scale.

Solution

While IoT continues to be a hot topic globally, business imperatives should steer the technology, and not the other way around. First, identify the business need – this could be discovering operational inefficiencies, understanding the pulse of your customer when using your products or creating altogether new revenue streams. Once you have determined the need, map it to the right IoT product / solution for it.

Surplus

The ROI from IoT is largely perceived to be in the form of cost savings and increase in efficiency. But with the right use of the technology, there is potential to also introduce new streams of revenue for the business. For instance, Sheela Foam (the makers of Sleepwell mattress) use IoT to build personalised, on-demand mattresses. The company opened IoT-enabled experience zones in showrooms across India wherein sensors and 3D imaging effectively analyse a customer’s pressure points and weight distribution and accordingly design a personalised mattress. Through this, the company succeeded in transforming India’s mattress manufacturing industry.

“Instead of looking at IoT as a subset of a company’s digital transformation project, it’s important to outline the long-term, bigger goals an enterprise seeks to achieve and then start with the quick wins, instead of waiting for full scale disruption.”

Skill

Enterprises must shift their focus from just prioritising technology capabilities to also assessing the IoT providers’ skill, especially their ability to bring all the pieces in the ecosystem together offering scalability, ease-of-use and overall fit to deliver a complete integrated solution.

Speed

The outcome of a PoC is a good way to determine if the IoT idea can be turned in to a reality. It is not to establish the best process or understand the market potential – this comes at a later stage. Think of your turn around time (TAT) and work towards setting a minimum TAT for your project. The other approach is to learn from the experience of others and leverage the learnings from other use cases.

Security

In several organisations today, cybersecurity has become a boardroom issue. While the security awareness in enterprises is growing, the adoption remains a key challenge in the experimental phase and this only intensifies with scale as security gets left out resulting in a no-ownership issue.

A recent research shows that enterprise customers are willing to buy more IoT devices as well as pay more (nearly 22 per cent more on average) if security is addressed effectively. Hence, incorporating security right from the onset should be a no-brainer

Scale

Interestingly, research from the Ovum study has shown that majority of enterprises who have deployed IoT, have seen measurable benefits within 12 months of deployment.  The best way is to start small and then scale up gradually.

We have seen our customers start with a pilot but also have a plan to scale fast once they see the solution performing. But as more customers adopt IoT, we expect the newer adopters to go for scale right from the start.

This is also reflected in how some of the solution providers are scaling. Once the solution has been implemented successfully, the uptake is fast. For instance, Bengaluru’s WeGoT, an IoT-based utility solutions company took three years to establish its prototype VenAqua, a solution that empowers customers with data and recommendations on minimising water consumption in homes. The project was first rolled out in only 500 homes and a year later, it expanded to 2 cities and more than 2,000 homes. Today, the solution is present in more than 20,000 homes and has saved 550 million litres of water!

“The benefits of IoT cut across process efficiencies, new business opportunities, enhanced customer service and engagement while also bringing in productivity and cost savings.”

Following the 6 S guide can help move your IoT projects from PoC to deployment at scale.

Discover how India is putting its best digital foot forward here. 

The post From Poc to scale a roadmap for enterprises building everything IoT appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Everyone agrees: collaboration is key to becoming a digital business.

According to the Wainhouse Research in their 2017 End-user Video Conferencing Survey, there’s been a 50% increase in collaborative intensity in the workplace over the last 10 years. 97% of businesses believe technology-enabled workplace collaboration is key to competitive advantage – hardly surprising when 90% of a knowledge worker’s time is spent in meetings, messaging or on the phone.

“Yet, despite its importance, companies still struggle to make collaborative projects work.”

McKinsey research, conducted in collaboration with the University of Oxford, found that on average, large IT projects (over $15 million) run 45% over budget and 7% over time. They also deliver 56%  less value than predicted.

A separate 2018 study by Forrester reported in Forbes found that 35% of enterprise projects fail to meet their original business intent.

So, what’s going wrong? And how can companies make sure their collaboration projects live up to expectations?

There are many factors at play, as we’ll see, but one stands out above all others.

“For collaboration to work you must focus first and foremost on your users – what they do and what they want.”

Understand how people want to use collaboration

Collaboration is never vanilla flavoured. The tasks people use it for vary considerably from industry to industry.

In the financial services sector, for example, companies use collaboration to inform branches about sales promotions, train staff remotely and broadcast morning briefings. They even use video chat to give high net worth clients the personal touch remotely.

In manufacturing, by contrast, the use cases are quite different. Here, collaboration is used to accelerate the design process across a dispersed R&D ecosystem, as well as coordinate with supply chain partners around the world.

Over in the film, TV and music industries, collaboration takes on yet another meaning. The product is digital content, so when companies collaborate, they’re actually sharing high definition video and audio files. User experience expectations are much higher and they need their collaboration service to support studio-quality sound and visuals.

Ask users about their preferences and expectations

Today there are a myriad of collaboration options – and not everyone wants to connect the same way.

Although Wainhouse Research states that 84% of knowledge workers carry a smartphone or tablet, only  15% like to use it to connect to video conferences. 14% tend to use a dedicated video conferencing system, but the biggest proportion (39%) connect via their desktop or laptop computer.

Companies need to ask their employees whether they want an app on their device or if they’d rather join from a huddle space or their desk. Senior executives may need the privacy of an immersive video conferencing suite, but other groups may not like using them. It’s important to understand the size of the groups that will come together either in informal huddle spaces or formal conference rooms, and whether they’ll make use of features like digital whiteboards if you provide them.

The results of this sort of research can be surprising. One of our clients, the civil engineering company Gammon, installed a new corporate network to all its construction sites that could support modern collaboration techniques. Instead of doing project reviews every few months face to face, to everyone’s surprise, they started doing them weekly using video conferencing.

“Employees watched incredulously as we connected projects by video,” A.P. Kamath, Group Head of IT, told us. “It has changed the way we work, allowing our people to connect with each other more effectively.” It’s also cut travel costs for the company by an impressive 30%.

Follow our methodology for success

Drawing on our vast experience implementing all kinds of collaboration services for many of the world’s leading organisations, Tata Communications has developed a reliable, six-step methodology to deliver a successful project.

Step 1: Set your collaboration strategy based on user experience – make sure you know what your overall business vision is and set a collaboration strategy that aligns with it.

Step 2: Assess, develop and adopt – talk to end users about what they do and develop use cases for different industries, job functions and demographic groups.

Step 3: Select the right technology and provider – opt for a technology platform that will meet the use cases and user experience expectations you’ve identified. Select a provider who can integrate the new technology with what you already have.

Step 4: Finalise your plan – be sure to include metrics of how you intend to measure success and return on investment.

Step 5: Beta testing – test your use case scenarios, develop a training and adoption plan, and carry out readiness assessments of systems and security.

Step 6: Launch – implement your adoption plan, tell people about the new service, show them what it can do, and encourage them to use it.

See our full collaboration project methodology in this infographic.

This is why many companies work with collaboration experts

It’s clear there’s much more to collaboration than simply buying some technology or signing up to a SaaS offering. This is why so many organisations turn to a leading provider of global digital infrastructure services to ensure their collaboration strategy succeeds.

“The right experts can help you achieve a correct alignment between business vision and collaboration strategy, understand user experience expectations and define use cases.” 

They are also able to efficiently integrate new technology with what you already have, and provide all the other elements – such as cloud, networking and security – on which collaboration depends.

Critically, adoption is managed so that your people actually use the services you provide, and you achieve your target return on investment. The beauty of leveraging services like these is that you can focus on what’s important  – your business.

Learn more about the technology that can improve your collaboration.

The post Six steps to successful collaboration appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The next three years will be a test of strength for the wholesale communications industry, as revenues from voice services are predicted to continue to decline. Wholesale carriers have two options: decide if they exit the market altogether or transform their approach to embrace innovation and drive those additional revenue streams. Below I explore three key trends that could help wholesale carriers that choose the latter.

The power of “platforms”

Customers of all kinds want the services they are purchasing to be easy to use. The wholesale voice business is no different.

“Just like Amazon or Uber, wholesale carriers can embrace platform-based business models to meet their customers’ evolving demands.”

A platform-based approach can allow companies to bring together a network of partners to develop innovative services and get closer to consumers by anticipating their needs in a frictionless way. Communications platforms matched with online portals can create new transparency and visibility for customers and ultimately build trust. This will also allow customers to react to demand in real-time, rapidly provisioning and monetising new services.

As APIs become more commonplace within the wholesale communication industry, solutions like cybersecurity, AI-based routing or even SD-WAN offerings can be integrated and provisioned within new platforms.

Online trading

While in the wholesale telecoms market capacity is not subject to the sorts of uncertainties witnessed in agriculture or energy, all markets see fluctuations in demand and supply in some way.

Also, despite the rise of software-defined networks (SDN) in recent years, most voice traffic is still carried across physical networks where capacity can be reasonably easily switched on and off. These networks have cost wholesale carriers hundreds of millions, so anything that might potentially negatively affect the return on investment, such as introducing new forms of market efficiency like online trading, could have more negative than positive effects. To illustrate this, the introduction of price comparison sites within the insurance market has meant that businesses now compete mainly on price. With voice services already a declining commodity, this is something that wholesale carriers probably want to avoid.

On the other hand, adopting an online trading approach may help curb uneven demand and in some situations might even drive up prices. For example, in the case of airlines, where demand for flights to a certain destination goes up, so does the price. This means that seasonal demand can be managed better, using pricing as the factor, by encouraging demand for otherwise unused capacity.

“Those who are unsure about an online trading system for fear of price decline, should consider adopting a halfway house-type approach.” 

This allows the core enterprise customer base to be served by wholesale carriers exchanging information on some form of online demand management platform, while the companies that manage a pure trading exchange model could be managed in the more traditional, semi-automated way that happens today. A hybrid approach would introduce the efficiencies that are needed in the core voice wholesale market, while ensuring that some sort of price stability is maintained in the broader market environment.

Enhancing telecoms with the help of blockchain

Over the past twelve months, blockchain has received a significant amount of hype within the telecoms sector – particularly with regards to IoT applications – and it’s not surprising. The essential attributes of blockchain’s shared ledger structure – trust, provenance, immutability and anonymity – are obvious benefits for a sector increasingly dealing with transactions between multiple telecoms companies.

“For wholesale carriers, the real debate around blockchain technology is whether these attributes warrant the hefty price tag and associated extra energy costs, that comes with it – especially in the face of shrinking revenues.”

While increasing automation to reduce internal costs is beneficial for the wholesale telecoms sector, there could be a rather high price associated with such a digital transformation. Wholesale carriers need to make sure that the additional cost will be recouped within any potential business case.  The solution would be through industry collaboration and adoption of blockchain technology in the wholesale business.

It is probably too ambitious to expect carriers to participate in a public blockchain environment, for example, like the kind we’ve seen with Bitcoin transactions. But a consortium blockchain arrangement like the one proposed by the Global Leaders Forum might be the answer for this sector. In a consortium blockchain, different organisations work together and restrict access and usage as needed to maintain the integrity of the ledger, thus allowing a limited set of trusted nodes to execute transactions. This ensures a degree of autonomy and giving the involved parties more confidence that certain types of commercial information are not potentially exposed to the public internet.

A telecoms blockchain consortium could come into existence to create the sort of virtual global managed network needed to deliver Blockchain-as-a-Service as a commercial proposition. This might include providing network, inventory, service management and settlement type functions as blockchain-based services. Introducing this solution with proper use cases and wide-spread adoption by industry stakeholders would certainly bring big benefits.

As these three trends shaping the wholesale telecoms industry at present demonstrate, there are still opportunities for those wholesale carriers that are in it for the long run to grab their share of the pie. There is still a significant amount of revenue to be won, but this will go to those wholesale telecoms companies that are willing to innovate and transform the way they operate.

Read about why it’s important to redefine wholesale communications in the digital age. 

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Marc Marquez wins the MotoGP race, Catalunya 2019

What’s the most important quality you think of when it comes to being a sports champion? Is it skill? Raw talent? Or just coincidental moments of genius?

As an ardent sports fan, I believe there are a few traits that cut across all sports and are pre-conditions when it comes to winning. They include team spirit, motivation, focus on continuous improvement, eye for detail and the thirst to win. You can win an occasional contest here and there with individual brilliance, but sustained success is impossible without these traits.

On that note, I want to touch upon another, relatively new but revolutionary aspect of sports broadcasting. Like being a champion, it is becoming a pre-condition for success for broadcasters.

Remote production: a game-changer

With traditional production, the cost of producing and broadcasting a major sporting event is massive. These costs are driven by the need for a fleet of OB vans at the venue and a big technical team required to keep the operation up and running.

“Remote production has changed all this. It is transforming sports broadcasting by reducing the need for travel and onsite logistical resources.” 

It allows a more flexible workflow and enables the seamless transfer of content – while delivering substantial cost savings and efficiencies.

Hitting it out of the park with the IPL

The Indian Premier League is among the top sporting spectacles in the world: 60 matches taking place in 9 cities over 50 days – with a billion eyeballs glued to every bit of the action. The 2018 season was the first time that a sports series of IPL’s scale was produced remotely in India by harnessing superfast connectivity. It enabled the broadcaster Star Sports to capture match feeds from multiple locations and produce customised feeds in eight languages for different regions. All this while keeping the lag and production costs down to a minimum.

Catching the action at high speed with MotoGP 

MotoGP is the world’s oldest established global motorsport championship, and it is synonymous with speed, thrill and nail-biting experiences. The 2019 MotoGP season comprises of 19 Grand Prix races spread across Europe, Asia, Americas, Australia and the Middle East.

With the action unfolding within the blink of an eye, the production of each race needs to be seamless to ensure an exhilarating viewing experience for fans worldwide. To meet this challenge, each of the MotoGP locations uses superfast connectivity and remote production at a broadcast operations hub in Barcelona, Spain. This ensures a reliable distribution of live video feeds from multiple sources including footage from the track, 360° onboard cameras as well as commentary – and, ultimately, a brilliant experience for fans everywhere.

Live… or truly live?

From motorsports to cricket, social media platforms have brought instant sports updates to fans’ fingertips. This means that they now expect to catch the action live as it happens, without a moment’s delay – even if the race or match might be taking place on the other side of the world.

This puts extra pressure on sports broadcasters. The time it takes for each moment of action to travel across the globe to the remote production centre, followed by its conversion into a single broadcast feed and the final broadcast cannot take more than a few seconds – at best!

“To enable a truly live sports experience, every member of the remote production team has to be like a cog in a fine piece of intricate machinery.” 

The on-site team needs to hear instructions and feedback from the production teams as well as have their eyes fixed on the event to capture the action. Real-time communication is critical. All this – the instant enrichment of content and the seamless handover of feeds to the broadcasters’ locations for satellite uplink – is made possible by superfast connectivity.

Innovating to stay competitive

As the likes of Netflix and Amazon are increasingly investing in sports rights there is growing pressure on traditional broadcasters and content owners to keep up with these sports industry newcomers.

To remain competitive, many are looking to expand their global reach by entering new markets and monetising digital platforms in new ways. Simultaneously, many broadcasters are taking a hard look at how they operate to boost their profitability by reducing overheads, logistical and engineering expenses.

“This is where remote production can make a huge difference, becoming an enabler of business transformation for broadcasters.”

As fans’ appetite for high-quality live content across multiple platforms continues to grow, we look forward to working with more innovative organisations like Star Sports and MotoGP to help them transform how they operate through remote production and bring sports fans the brilliant viewing experiences they crave.

Read our previous blog on how tech brings us closer to the World Cup.

The post Remote production: Game changer for sports in digital age appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Excitement around 5G continues unabated. Yet, amidst the excitement, it is important to be pragmatic and identify the short to medium-term use case opportunities where 5G can make a significant difference compared with existing 4G/LTE network services. This includes enabling the shift in data processing and management towards the mobile network edge, and targeting the applications that are likely to benefit the most from 5G at the beginning.

5G and the edge

“The heavy data demand in modern mobile communication networks means that a traditional architecture – which puts data processing, storage and management at the heart of the network – is increasingly inefficient.”

The result is that increasingly, service creation and delivery needs to happen at the network edge.

Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) uses a distributed, cloud-based architecture and is seen as a logical next step for mobile network architectures. MEC enables mobile network operators to address growing demand for IoT connectivity, meeting the needs for low-latency, high-availability connectivity and real-time network data. What’s more, MEC is also ideal for 5G because it complements the software-driven, fully programmatic network models planned for 5G.

Transformational potential of 5G

Industry analysts estimate that widespread adoption of 5G is just a few years away, with China, South Korea and Japan likely to be the markets leading the way.  While at Tata Communications we don’t operate our own cellular network, we’re watching closely the developments in 5G to ensure that we’re able to optimise our own services to meet our mobility and IoT customers’ evolving requirements.

There are a number of use case areas that I am excited about when I consider the potential of 5G in industrial IoT-type applications, from automotive through to mixed reality apps.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-dump-truck-near-pine-tress-during-daytime-93398/

Automotive: this includes so-called V2X communications (Vehicle-to-Vehicle, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure etc.), including things like automated toll road operations, hazard warning, collision avoidance or congestion avoidance systems. Cellular V2X is gaining traction both within the automotive industry and the broader smart infrastructure ecosystem, because of the efficiency and safety improvements it could bring about. Some other use cases with potential include in-vehicle infotainment and driver behaviour monitoring. Much of this can be and is already being delivered using 4G. My own car already warns me about driving conditions and to my shame, it sometimes nags me about my own driving behaviour. The low latency connection delivered in conjunction with 5G opens up a whole new world of possibilities for V2X – not to mention the much-hyped autonomous vehicles space.

While I am as eager as the next petrol-head to try one of these out, the technologist in me knows that the autonomous vehicles market is unlikely to be a short-term, mass-market, revenue-generating opportunity.

Industry 4.0: The basic premise of Industry 4.0 is the automation of factory environments – and 5G can help accelerate this transformative process. The counter-argument is that WiFi could deliver similar connectivity. However, in a factory environment WiFi is subject to signal interference, while a cable-based approach can cause obvious health and safety issues in an already hazardous environment. State-of-the-art augmented reality, (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality applications, enabled by 5G, could have a particularly transformational impact in some industries and help realise businesses’ Industry 4.0 goals.

Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality: These applications are likely to boost the demand for 5G, not unlike the iPhone did with 4G more than ten years ago. While AR, VR and MR are technologies that tend to be associated with the consumer market – think Pokémon Go and other gaming apps – the most interesting applications in my view are industrial and medical use cases. Remote medical procedures, engineering, public safety and field service all represent big opportunities for low latency, 5G-enabled AR, VR and MR services. It remains to be seen whether B2B or B2C use cases will command more focus in the short term. A lot will depend on the large consumer electronics companies and the availability of 5G connectivity.

“As mobile network operators around the world are racing to be amongst the first in 5G, we’re busy working with our customers across automotive, manufacturing, sports, media and entertainment to develop ideas for new applications that would benefit from the capabilities of 5G.”

I am excited about how the new technology will live up to the expectations and the hype, transforming how businesses operate and how people engage with brands and the world around them.

How can China realise the full potential of the MVNO market? Read our previous blog here to find out. 

The post Will 5G drive us to the edge? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

It has been just over a year since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, impacting on not just European businesses, but any organisation that provides people in the region with services or goods.

Since May 2018, (and even many months before that in anticipation of the new rules) we have witnessed a major shift in attitudes towards data security and privacy. The biggest shift has undoubtedly been a new presumption of data privacy.

“GDPR has raised awareness within organisations as to how data is collected, managed and stored, and increased consumer consciousness regarding how personal data is used by businesses.”

Part of the idea behind the GDPR was to address a perceived imbalance of power between businesses and consumers around data use. So, one key success of the legislation to date has been that it has prompted organisations to think long and hard about what type of data they really need and where the real value lies – rather than collecting data indiscriminately and then assuming the cost and liability of processing and storing it.

Similarly, GDPR has nudged some businesses into re-assessing their IT infrastructure so that it is fit for purpose. Organisations are also looking for partners with robust privacy and security protection built into their services, demonstrating their commitment to the new rules.

“Yet, GDPR is not a solved problem, and many organisations are still working to achieve and maintain full compliance.”

To get there, they must establish continuous data handling practices or face penalties which can be very significant, as can any reputational damage resulting from a data incident. We have already seen Google receive the largest GDPR fine to date in France. Examples like this are a wake-up call for organisations. Many are now realising that the potential cost of non-compliance vastly outweighs the cost of achieving compliance, which should lead to higher levels of compliance across the board.

Although GDPR has been in force since May last year, it seems that there is still some confusion around who should have access to personal information and whether data covered by the GDPR can be used for anything other than its original intended purpose.

“To ensure that they are playing by the rules, we are seeing more and more businesses creating dedicated new roles focused on data security, with Data Protection Officers, Ethics Officers and Chief Ethics Officers, working closely with the business leadership to maintain compliance.”

As enterprises are becoming more and more dependent on data to remain competitive – and even survive — in the global digital economy, they are placing more emphasis on keeping their data safe. But in tandem, the threat of increasingly sophisticated and ruthless cyber-attacks continues to grow. So, whether your business must comply with the GDPR or not, protecting sensitive data is crucial and to do this, investing in robust IT security defences is absolutely key. Only then can businesses ensure compliance, while also limiting the risk of financial loss and reputational damage that a data breach can cause.

Is it possible to secure your cloud? Read our previous blog to find out. 

The post One year on: How GDPR is helping to shine a spotlight on data security appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in China have faced many challenges since the market opened to new entrants. So, while the MVNO subscriber share has grown, there is plenty of extra potential for growth. This growth could be unleashed with the adoption of new mobile virtual enablement models, leveraging the cloud, mobile-network-as-a-service solutions, web services and application integration via APIs. The combination of these technologies will bring new opportunities for MVNOs in the greater China market and beyond.

Barely scratching the surface

Initially, wholesale margins on airtime access prevented creative tariffing or innovative new services in China. This made the MVNO model commercially challenging. Industry analysts at GlobalData estimate that MVNO subscribers now represent just over 5% of the region’s total market. Even though the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China (MIIT) issued a new batch of 15 MVNO licenses in June 2018, with operators including Xiaomi, Alibaba and JD taking them up, existing MVNOs have tended to focus on providing low-cost data and calling services.

“We’re seeing little innovation in this market, beyond a straightforward discount model, barely scratching the surface of what’s possible. There could be a change on the horizon though.” 

MIIT is clearly anxious to create competition for the incumbent Chinese communications service providers. This, combined with developments in virtualisation and cloud technology and new business models, represents a new route for local MVNOs to succeed.

The traditional approach is limited

The 20 or so existing Chinese MVNOs have focused on prepay-only services so far, which relies on relatively light infrastructure. The introduction of a more complex service mix will require more complex back-office systems, which is not a viable option for most MVNOs. This hampers innovation in the face of strong competition from the Chinese incumbent mobile network operators (MNOs), who can easily compete against MVNO entrants on tariffs and service bundles.

Despite regulation designed to accelerate the growth of the country’s fledgeling MVNO market, in practice, it isn’t easy for these new players to compete. Securing capacity at reasonable wholesale prices in one barrier, as incumbent MNOs can switch on their extensive marketing machinery to retain their subscribers or win back those who have churned.

“In this environment, simply reselling airtime and capacity in an undifferentiated way quickly becomes uneconomical.”

Ahead in the cloud

There are opportunities for ambitious MVNOs to stand out in the crowd and serve specific segments and niche markets with a range of targeted communications services. We’re seeing increasing demand among enterprises and OEMs for next-generation MVNO services in areas like M2M, automotive, SME, youth, or other sub-segments and interest groups. This new wave of MVNOs focuses on differentiated services. To minimise CAPEX, they combine a cloud-based model, service integration via APIs and web-based self-service with relatively little physical communications infrastructure.

While new MVNOs may have different objectives and business models, they have many things in common too. They want to serve a clearly defined target market, have a unique and tailored service proposition, a strong brand and the ability to use the power of online services to engage with their customers.

They also want efficient and flexible charging, billing and settlement options, with comprehensive BSS/OSS capabilities to ensure optimum service. They want access to security and fraud protection capabilities, to safeguard their customers and their business from ever-changing threats. Partner management processes to ensure efficient, automated call and data session handling processes between the MVNO and their MNO host are also a must.

The Mobile Network-as-a-Service (MNaaS) model perfectly suits the new diverse MVNO dynamic, because it doesn’t require any infrastructure or software investment. From a commercial perspective, it can scale up or down as required – making it ideal for smaller niche markets ranging from just a few thousand to several million subscribers.

The virtualised network functionality of the MNaaS model makes it easy for MVNOs to create, launch and develop services.

“While dropped calls and slow data connectivity might be forgiven with a discounted mobile service, it’s not acceptable for MVNOs who want to focus on good quality and coverage, instead of just competitive prices.”

Unleashing the growth of Chinese MVNOs

Next-generation MVNOs and their customers will soon think of mobility in the same way everyone thinks of the world wide web and cloud infrastructure today – it’s ubiquitous, accessible to all, and it simply works. MNaaS can help make it a reality for new MVNOs, spurring the development of new mobile services and IoT applications and making them easier and more cost-effective to manage through the cloud and using 3rd party application integration to create new services. This approach will allow China’s new generation of MVNOs to pursue segments and services that until now haven’t been economically viable.

It will take a shift in thinking to realise the full potential of the MVNO market in China. But we’re already seeing how this model is levelling the playing field between industry incumbents and newcomers, and paving the way for a more competitive, innovative and dynamic market.

Want to meet the new MVNOs on the block? Read our previous blog to see which one fits your business.   

The post The potential of China’s new generation MVNOs appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In part one of this blog, I evaluated the significant growth of the connected car industry in India in the last few years and the potential for further progress in the future. There are key factors contributing to the expansion of automotive IoT, and important elements to consider for production and commercial success without regional restrictions.

Government policy is helping to drive vehicle connectivity

From April 2019 onwards, all public transport vehicles in India will have to be fitted with a tracking device and emergency call button. This far-sighted and enlightened initiative is part of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) programme, which was launched by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

The ITS has several objectives, focusing around the need for better control over transport efficiency, quality, comfort and safety.

“The overall aim is to create a safer, smarter transport system by adopting technology for the benefit of society as a whole.”

The ITS incorporates the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS-140). This standard applies to state-owned transport companies, private bus operators, emergency services, schools and colleges, and car rental companies. Interestingly, private taxi operators and car-share organisations are also affected, and it’s possible that compliance with the regulations may become an issue.

All these organisations will be required to have an embedded SIM (eSIM) technology in their vehicles. eSIMs are tamper-proof, virtual SIMs which can receive over-the-air (OTA) updates and upgrades. They can be re-programmed remotely to work over any mobile operator’s network in India or any other country.

Enabling borderless growth

The commercial opportunity for all kinds of players in the connected car market does not stop at the border of India. An important feature of India’s automotive market is that around 12% of car production each year is destined for the export market.

Vehicle connectivity has become a key topic for all manufacturers and across all geographies. While regulation drives demand in some circumstances, there is also an increasing commercial imperative for automotive manufacturers to provide services that can be broadly categorised under the headings of security, analysis and infotainment. The former category includes vehicle tracking, AIS-140 compliance and driver assistance services. The analysis includes remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance services, and infotainment includes location-specific services, content streaming and related marketing activity.

“To provide such services automotive manufacturers working on connected car projects need to ensure their vehicles can be easily and securely connected, whatever country a vehicle is sold and operated in.” 

This requires a reliable and consistent approach to multi-country mobile connectivity, something that Tata Communications has made a significant investment into over the past two years.

The Tata Communications MOVE global mobility platform enables vehicle connectivity at home and abroad. It provides the network-independent, cross-border cellular connectivity Indian car makers need, to deliver connected car services for both home and export markets. It takes care of the global connections, including last mile cellular and radio access, so the automakers can concentrate on designing and building engaging connected services for their customers.

Our work in this area is a good example of private sector alignment with the objectives and requirements of the ITS and AIS-140 initiatives. We look forward to working with Indian automotive OEMs and telematics companies on this exciting journey.

Read about the growing industry of connected cars in part one of this blog.

The post Connected Cars: A futuristic possibility for cars in India (Part 2) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The Indian economy is booming and so is its connected car market. With a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of around 7%, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

“Continuing urbanisation, a booming consumer class, and favourable regulatory environment have all helped to make India the fourth largest automotive market in the world, according to India Brand Equity Foundation.” 

And as such it presents a huge opportunity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract manufacturers, solution providers and communications service providers in providing connected car services. According to an article in Economic Times, during 2018 car production in India grew 8%, while global automobile production declined overall by 1.1%.

Automakers are focusing more and more on vehicle connectivity to deliver a new generation of so-called Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) services – building connected telematics, safety, navigation and infotainment services into their new models as foundational offers. For example, the Korean car maker Hyundai has been one of the first into the Indian connected car market, with its Venue model offering connected navigation, live traffic information, and software updates over the air. MG’s Hector, due for release in India in May 2019, offers similar services as well as voice recognition, remote control, and geofencing.

A recent study by Ovum predicted that the global connected car market will grow from 59 million vehicles in 2016 to more than 308 million vehicles by 2022. While China, Europe and the US account for around 80% of the total global market, India is showing one of the highest growth rates.

“In India, connected cars are set to increase to around 1.7 million vehicles by 2022, from less than 300,000 in 2016.”

This growth trend in the number of physical cars is reflected in the growth of the mobile services that connect them. Automotive IoT service revenue in India is set to reach more than $100M USD over the period covered by the Ovum report. The vast majority of this comes from the technology that’s embedded in the vehicle at the factory.

Growth and penetration rates are impressive

When considering the potential for connected cars in India, it helps to take a relative, rather than an absolute, view. The numbers quoted above from Ovum’s connected car study indicate a relatively small absolute number of connected cars in India, but a huge growth in vehicle connectivity, outstripping more industrialised markets in North America and Europe. There are also some fascinating trends for the India market.

“Most connected vehicles will continue to use 2G cellular technology even by the end of the forecast period, indicating the diversity and value of 2G enabled use cases, vs latter generations of cellular technology.”

There is likely to be a more than doubling of after-market vehicle connectivity installation and a near quadrupling of connected electric vehicles in the period 2018-2022.

Another industry analyst, Global Data, has developed a mobile data forecast for India, which also makes a compelling case for the growth potential in the region. This India Mobile Data Forecast study covers a 10-year period, during which the growth in India GDP never falls below 7% – an economic growth rate that would be the envy of most European countries.

The study indicates IoT mobile subscriptions reached 9.7 million in 2018, representing a penetration rate of 1%, with growth expected to reach 68 million by 2023, a penetration of about 5%.

So what is helping to drive the growth of vehicle connectivity and the car industry? In part two of this blog, I review the government regulations contributing to the current momentum and the commercial opportunities beyond India.

Read more about the power of IoT in reimagining mobile connectivity in India and beyond.

The post Connected Cars: A futuristic possibility for cars in India (Part 1) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Cloud may be the ‘new normal’, but it still presents something of a confidence conundrum for CIOs when it comes to security.

I have been in cyber-security for a good many years now and along the way have met many extremely talented CIOs. And yet, I can only think of one that would attest to having 100% confidence in the security of the cloud, having secured his entire digital architecture.

I must mention here that this particular CIO was responsible for managing a very complex architecture, serving internal and external customers, with lots of vendors and contractors involved. An environment many enterprise IT professionals will be familiar with. Here is how he did it.

A process of elimination

He started, like many CIOs would, by thinking about security at the overall enterprise architecture level. But he quickly discovered that this approach couldn’t stand up to the avalanche of changes coming its way: users bringing their own devices to work, shadow IT, a variety of vendors supporting the network, and constantly changing compliance regulations to adhere to.

You can’t blame him for trying, though. This CIA architecture – Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability – is the traditional way of assessing the threat landscape, and then defining, designing and implementing security for the network, apps, and users. And, in all honesty, it works perfectly well in many cases.

Sadly, it doesn’t translate to the cloud. It is too centralised and rigid to cope with the dynamics of securing XaaS, shadow IT, identity services and DevOps.

“The going can get tough, especially on public cloud platforms where security responsibilities are shared and, unfortunately, not everyone is aware of their responsibility or knows how to manage them.” 

The next logical move was to try constructing his security architecture on the three states of data: at rest, in motion and in use. Yet, even this tried and tested approach cannot always meet the demands placed on it by the complexities and dynamics of cloud.

Back to basics

This CIO decided to put these questions to users: What do you do? What devices do you use? What systems do you access? How do you access them? And from where?

Based on the responses, he then defined his governance, risk and compliance architecture – a crucial stage that many may forget. The assumption is that simply doing vulnerability assessment, penetration testing (VAPT), or a security posture assessment using the Center for Internet Security (CIS) framework is sufficient. Unfortunately, sometimes even this level of assessment isn’t enough for a truly comprehensive, cloud-ready security architecture.

Now, even though our CIO had all the basics, he still didn’t have a full real-time view of all his security. So, he added a layer of security information and event management (SIEM). With this in place, accessible through a single-pane-of-glass dashboard, he finally had a near perfect hybrid security architecture. I say “near perfect” because it is hard to create a completely faultless security architecture.

Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships

Our CIO, of course, did not undertake this hefty transformation alone.  He worked with specialist technology partners to assess and build the architecture. As cyber-threats continue to grow in scale and complexity, enterprises often struggle to keep up and ensure they have the skills and very latest tools to protect themselves. Working with a security specialist gave the CIO peace of mind, as he was able to tap into state-of-the-art cyber-security technologies and leading experts in the field. Tata Communications, for example, provided several components, including SIEM, and integrated them into the overall framework, helping to effectively simplify cloud security.

Key learnings

Over the years, I have seen the ever-growing adoption of cloud driving a clear trend towards the kind of hybrid, integrated security architecture that our CIO implemented.

The first step on any successful cloud security journey is knowing where you’re starting from. This might seem like a back-to-basics approach for some, but it can yield near perfect results if matched with real-time technology.

“The lesson here: secure your cloud before it bursts – and avoid a deluge of security issues raining down on your head!”

Read Raj’s previous blog on how to avoid turbulence in cloud environments.

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From speeding up innovation to understanding customers better, digital transformation has emerged as the primary driver of corporate evolution. IDC estimates that worldwide spending on digital transformation will be nearly $2 trillion by 2022 up from ‘just’ over $1 trillion this year.

It is seldom a smooth undertaking though. Reaping business benefits requires fundamental changes to an organisation’s culture, business processes, and the very technologies that underpin it. While digital technologies can provide amazing levers of growth, they also help widen the threat landscape.

“In fact, anxiety surrounding not only spiralling costs (43%) but crucially also security (40%) and privacy (37%) are the key adoption barriers for business decision makers when it comes to innovations such as AI and IoT, according to the Cycle of Progress survey by Tata Communications.”

Even as Indian enterprises have been consumed by putting up an additional cyber-defences, attackers and threat vectors are evolving rapidly as well. For example, as organisations rapidly adopt cloud delivery models, software-defined networking, IoT, analytics, blockchain and open APIs, they concurrently require a more systematic and proactive approach to addressing security threats and managing compliance requirements.

Indian organisations have also been guarding their information assets through a myriad of point solutions, which are clearly inadequate since threat vectors have evolved to take advantage of the legacy security solutions in place. The degree of difficulty rises when business units begin consuming technology, like cloud services, without any IT intervention — the IT team will have little visibility into systems that do not show up on its radar.

For most organisations, security is neither seen as a revenue generator nor as a business enabler. A direct consequence is that business processes and the IT that enable them, mature faster, and thus their security cover is in a perpetual scramble to catch up. As a result, for most technology initiatives, security is often the last thing to get bolted on.

A rash of incidents over the past few weeks helps illustrate this:

March 1: Over 2 million identity records on government officials and politicians from every country in the world leaked from a Dow Jones watch-list

March 21: Facebook admits that it has not properly secured the passwords of as many as 600 million users

April 15: IT outsourcing giant Wipro begins investigating reports that its IT systems are being used to launch attacks against some of its customers

Malware; hackers; botnets — over the past months, the media has focused on the surge in security incidents that have had an adverse legal, financial and reputational impact on Indian enterprises.

“Despite this growth in awareness, IDC estimates that 93 per cent of Indian organisations have just basic cyber-security protection in place.”

So, on one hand, enterprises realise that they need to harden their resilience to threats, and on the other, they need to do so facing the realities of user expectations, shorter business cycles, legacy environments, managing multiple technology providers and internal skills gaps.

The security conversation within organisations clearly needs to change. It’s rather unfortunate that fear has been the traditional basis of accessing security investments. It also, possibly, reflects a legacy mindset at work in organisations. Today’s threats and tomorrows challenges can’t be dealt with by brandishing fear, they need a risk-mitigation approach to get business buy-in. IDC has also identified the acute shortage of cyber-security professionals and ineffective security sourcing among the top 4 vulnerabilities of Indian enterprises on their digital journeys.

To emerge from chaos to order will require leveraging intelligence, technology and talent in equal measure to devise appropriate yet agile response mechanisms.

From skilling to keeping pace with threat vectors by using emerging technologies such as machine learning, and analytics to even enhancing resilience, is a challenging journey for an organisation to undertake on its own. As the velocity, variance and sophistication of cyber-security attacks intensifies, organisations need to partner with specialist security service providers with demonstrable capability for innovation and the use of emerging technologies.

The goal should be to not only reduce the probability of an attack but also to switch the focus to risk-mitigation and quick remediation. Making the CEO and the Board aware of the many fast-evolving threats by highlighting the invaluable role of security controls in minimising business risk is part of the process. A shared ownership of risk with business stakeholders and forging the right technology partnerships will enable organisations to unlock the full potential of the latest digital technologies — and pave the way for total business transformation.

“To ensure the cyber-security readiness of Indian industry, the CII-Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation is launching various initiatives like the International Conference on Cyber-Security  as well as Cyber Security Training-cum-Certification Program for both security professionals and those interested in a career in this field.”

Find out more about Tata Communications’ truly integrated security suite for the digital enterprise.

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The wholesale communications industry has reached a tipping point. Once worth hundreds of billions, traditional communications service revenues are officially in decline – and wholesale carriers are feeling the pressure to recoup these losses.

At the top of their list of revenue woes: international voice.

“After ten years of negative to zero growth, revenues from voice are predicted to fall to $50 billion by 2022 – nearly half of the market’s total worth in 2012.”

A large proportion of this decline can be attributed to the rapid rise of over-the-top (OTT) services and VoIP services such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype among consumers and businesses as well as the adoption of UC by enterprises. In fact, according to Telegeography, OTTs delivered 40% more international voice traffic in 2017 than all the global telecoms companies combined.

Yet, the challenges around declining voice revenues have been discussed for nearly a decade. The truth is, some wholesale carriers have been extremely slow to act and today they find themselves at a crossroads: innovate or face extinction.

Wholesale voice is not dead

While wholesale carriers may well be servicing a market that is half the size it was 10 years earlier, this does not mean that voice revenue opportunities no longer exist. There will always be a need for wholesale carriers to provide capacity and manage international communications, serving the needs of mobile network operators and multinational enterprises. In fact, for the industry survivors there is a significant amount of revenue to be won, but this will only go to those wholesale carriers that are willing to embrace disruption.

Until now, the wholesale voice business model has been focused on offering a set of basic, generalised products and connecting customers from A to B. Today, this way of doing business will no longer suffice. For one thing, this model does not account for complexity in managing many more supplier relationships with faster time-to-market and the ability to serve new demand. Nor does it consider the evolution in consumer buying behaviours and expectations – something that is drastically changing business models across all sectors and markets.

Wholesale voice trading now requires a greater depth of understanding of the customer and the entire value chain. It is no longer about selling a product and handing it off to the customer.

“For longer-term success, wholesale carriers must be continually refining their solutions and services to solve challenges and anticipate the future needs of customers.”

What do Uber and wholesale voice carriers have in common?

While many refer to Uber as a “disruptor” this may not be strictly true. Disruptive innovation occurs in two ways: when a start-up uses digital technology to meet the needs of low-end customers – needs that have otherwise been forgotten; or to create an entirely new customer base within a specific market. Instead, what Uber did was simple – offer a better user experience for taxi users. Customers of all kinds want the services they are purchasing to be easy to use. The wholesale business is no different.

User experience is growing in importance in the voice services market. Just like Uber, wholesale carriers can adopt a communications platform-based business model to meet this new demand.

By developing their own platforms, wholesale carriers can move away from product-by-product sales and offer customers seamless access to a variety of solutions – even those they may not have previously needed. Better still, with a platform approach the operational complexity that plagues the industry is hidden from customers, improving the experience further. What’s more, a platform-based approach can be shaped to serve different vertical needs and evolve as needs change.

As APIs become more commonplace within the wholesale communication industry, solutions like cyber security, AI-based routing or even SD-WAN offerings can be integrated.

“Rather than offering services product-by-product, wholesale carriers should innovate by focusing on experience – delivering value creation, sourcing the best solutions and identifying the best partners to serve their customers’ needs.”

Read a blog about why advancing connectivity is a crucial part of the business. 

The post Can wholesale communications be redefined in digital era? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

As the circus of Formula 1 descends on Monaco this weekend, every spare inch of the tiny principality will be filled with enthusiastic F1 fans, keen to catch a glimpse of their favourite drivers. The audience following the race from elsewhere, however, will outnumber those on the French Riviera by many millions.

This is not unusual. For most major sporting events, the majority of spectators aren’t in the stadium, at the track, or on the course – they’re at home watching on television, following the action on their mobile, or a combination of the two.

Advances in digital technologies and social media have completely revolutionised the fan experience in recent years, enabling fans to watch and engage with sports in their terms – whether they’re actually at the venue or on the side of the globe.

But Tata Communications’ recent “Show Me The Money!” report highlights that sports organisations are only scratching the surface when it comes to monetising the huge opportunities that new digital platforms offer. Traditionally, revenue for sports comes from the sale of broadcasting rights, but the popularity of on-demand streaming means digitally engaged viewers now expect far more control over how and when they watch.

“All viewers, but especially younger viewers, expect to watch content any time, on any screen, and be able to pause, rewind or watch highlights,” notes Marcus Parnwell at DAZN in “Show Me the Money!”.

 

2019 Bahrain Grand Prix (Photo by Wolfgang Wilhelm)

DAZN is a dedicated sports streaming service that has capitalised on the evolution of the sporting landscape, first launching in parts of Europe in 2016 and expanding into the United States in 2018.

Traditional sports broadcasting also often fails to take into account the different elements of sports that turn casual viewers into die-hard fans. Fans are increasingly drawn to individuals, particularly those closer to home, and the stories they share on Instagram and Facebook, for example, is making global superstars feel more accessible than ever before.

“Focusing on the journeys of star drivers is one of our most powerful means of storytelling. Underdog stories, rivalries; these are universal,” explains Frank Arthofer of Formula 1. “Digital is a means of enhancing the conversation so more people tune in on race weekends.”

And that’s where the big monetisation opportunity lies: die-hard fans are more likely, than casual viewers, to spend money to see an event live, buy merchandise or subscribe to an OTT app.

Sports, such as football and Formula 1, have already built up a truly global audience, but digital technology can also help to reach fans in territories that aren’t yet catered for by existing distribution deals. TV rights tend to be sold on a country-by-country basis, but content owners can now use digital platforms such as their own OTT service, Facebook or YouTube to reach fans in regions that wouldn’t be considered worth serving under traditional distribution deals. Sometimes this might mean sharing highlights or even full coverage of must-see, unmissable races or matches, for free on social media to whet the appetite of people who are new to the sport, and help convert them into loyal followers.

2019 Bahrain Grand Prix (Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images)

Of course, there are things fans watching at home get that those actually at the events don’t, and digital can bridge that gap. Should F1 fans watching the Monaco Grand Prix on the other side of the world really have a better idea of what’s going on at the track than those who are on the ground? Thanks to increasingly sophisticated graphics and easy-to-digest data points, TV viewers are able to decipher the significance of every pitstop and DRS overtake – sometimes better than fans in the grandstand. Yet, something as simple as a spectator app and reliable Wi-Fi access at venues can augment the experience for those watching live. So, as the ‘remote’ digital fan experience gets better, the pressure is increased on venues to improve the sports experience for fans onsite too. Ultimately, attracting fans to the track or stadium is crucial for the commercial success of a sport, as broadcasters and sponsors want venues to be full and add to the atmosphere.

“Whether fans are keeping tabs on the action among the casinos and swimming pools of Monaco, at home on the sofa, in a bar with friends, or via their favourite driver’s Instagram Stories, digital technology presents an almost endless number of ways to monetise live sports’ enduring appeal.”

For Mehul’s views on the evolution of F1 during the last 1,000 Grands Prix, check out his recent blog post.

Tata Communications was the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula 1® between 2012 and 2019. Tata Communications was also the Official Managed Connectivity Supplier to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and Official Digital Transformation Partner to ROKiT Williams Racing until the end of the 2019 season.

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India is on a fast track to becoming one of the world’s most digital economies. The number of smartphone users in the country is expected to reach 829 million by 2022. Simultaneously, disruptive mobile and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies are set to transform the way people live, and the way organisations operate, becoming the new enablers for growth.

To illustrate, many cars today have smart parking assistance systems, and we are seeing self-driving cars tested on roads around the world. With the rapid pace of innovation in this sector, autonomous vehicles won’t be far off either.

More and more car manufacturers are equipping vehicles with cellular connectivity to enable them to gather data about the condition and location of each car, remotely and in real-time. It is now possible for manufacturers to stay connected to vehicles – even if a car was made in Japan and it is being driven on a road thousands of kilometres away in Jaipur. By analysing the data gathered, manufacturers are able to diagnose faults, programme new applications, or even analyse driver habits, patterns or even road conditions. These insights help improve the driving experience, support the development of new features and guide the design of new vehicles too.

Another example is how goods are delivered from A to B. Ubiquitous connectivity enables logistics companies to track the movement of individual consignments on a whole new level of detail, bringing light to where there was previously darkness; effectively illuminating a supply chain. In the past, a logistics company could determine the approximate location of goods but not know the state of those goods throughout the supply chain. Now, thanks to cellular connectivity, logistics businesses, their partners and customers are able to monitor the conditions where goods are being transported. They are able to see the exact temperature and level of humidity, for example – and adjust these crucial variables in real-time. This insight enabled by mobile connectivity helps ensure that the goods will arrive intact to their intended destination, protecting the bottom line of the entire supply chain.

“To make way for always-connected, borderless mobile services like these requires the redefinition of cellular connectivity. Businesses should be able to capture, move and manage data seamlessly, securely and cost-effectively everywhere, regardless of country borders.”

Yet, the issue is that the majority of today’s cellular networks – while reliable and secure – are inherently local in nature. Just think about the roaming charges that you incur when travelling abroad just for a week. Then, think about the roaming charges that might be incurred by a car manufacturer with potentially hundreds of thousands of connected vehicles in constant roaming mode around the world for several years.

The benefits of a universal mobile network would be far-reaching for Indian enterprises and citizens. It would help accelerate the deployment of new mobile and IoT services locally and internationally, as businesses would no longer have to negotiate separate data connectivity agreements with individual mobile network operators in each country.

“New disruptive cross-border mobile and IoT services require international cellular connectivity, through a single, truly global virtual mobile network.”

In a world where devices are born connected a single global mobile network, enabled by APIs, automation and the cloud, would not only give businesses unprecedented visibility and control over all their connected ‘things’, wherever they might be, but also reduce costs, as many devices are today perpetually roaming across country borders.

Crucially, re-imagining cellular connectivity in this way would unleash innovation across sectors: new business models would emerge, and people would be able to engage with organisations and with the world around them in whole new ways.

Read more about how India continues to progress on their digital transformation journey with smart cities.

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As businesses’ reliance on cloud-based data and applications continues to grow, the traditional WAN (wide-area network) can’t cope. It is often too slow, inflexible, expensive and simply not scalable enough, as it wasn’t designed for the cloud. This leaves established businesses unable to innovate, scale up and offer new services at speed, putting them at a disadvantage compared to their younger cloud-native rivals. That’s why software-defined internet-based hybrid networks are the only way forward. SD-WAN (software-defined wide-area network) enables businesses to manage these hybrid networks more effectively, helping them to remain competitive.

Not only does SDWAN lower costs, but it also enables businesses to roll out applications and bandwidth rapidly across the network and branch locations. It also offers the flexibility to try out new configurations and services before introducing them on a larger scale.

However, it’s essential that businesses understand that SD-WAN is not just as simple as slapping on a quick fix on top of their existing not-fit-for-purpose networks. A future-proof infrastructure should anticipate and prepare for long-term business objectives, needs and limitations as well as predicted technology developments.

The range of industries that could benefit from an SD-WAN network is huge but one company that’s already done so is Carlsberg. The global brewer’s Tata Communications assisted switch to a software-defined hybrid network is part of the company’s digital transformation program. The aim of the transformation is to harness the power of the internet and cloud computing to boost agility, increase efficiencies and reduce costs. The scalability and cost-effectiveness of a hybrid network have already enabled Carlsberg to digitise its supply chain and explore new AI-enabled opportunities that’ll keep it ahead of the crowd.

That’s just one example. In manufacturing, it can protect factories and provide maximum availability through load sharing; secure and control partner access through the extranet; and address compartmentalised lines of business. In banking, more robust integrated security will allow faster threat detection, while ubiquitous encryption addresses differences between ATM machine communications and branch-to-branch VoIP or video. What’s more, the technology also has various potential applications in the wider financial and trading services world.

Of course, businesses are only able to see these benefits if SD-WAN is implemented correctly, which is why many are looking to trusted partners — including vendors like Cisco and managed service providers (MSPs) like Tata Communications — to manage it all for them. With lots of complex issues to consider and important decisions to make, such as how to manage broadband provisioning, how to ensure security at the network edge and what role on-premises hardware will take, making use of an MSP to deploy and maintain SD-WAN infrastructure can eliminate any hassle and help to avoid enduring any extra costs through unforeseen problems or complications. It also allows businesses to allocate more resources to strategic initiatives.

MSPs can vary massively, from consultancy firms to system integrators, but those that operate their own network have a built-in advantage and offer a number of benefits for customers. At Tata Communications, we’re collaborating with Cisco and other technology vendors in order to lower the barriers for businesses aiming to make the move to hybrid SD-WAN infrastructure.

This kind of cross-industry partnership is essential when it comes to adopting emerging technologies. Tata Communications’ long-standing business collaboration with Cisco is a perfect example of how bringing experts together from different fields can cater for our customers’ wide-ranging digital transformation needs and give businesses the best possible foundation for success in the digital era.

The cloud-centric future will be mostly WAN-less — where site-to-site connectivity is the exception rather than the rule. For businesses to thrive in the digital era, they require a SD-WAN hybrid infrastructure that combines the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public internet, with the resilience and reliability of a private network. In short, agile businesses require an agile digital infrastructure.

Read about the adoption of SD-WAN and its barriers in our previous blog.

The post How SD-WAN can remove the barriers for network transformation appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Many organisations rushed to cloud, thinking it would be the answer to all their problems, only to find it didn’t deliver what they hoped for and actually created more complexity.

In the first wave of cloud, some companies simply bought a few virtual machines on a hyperscaler, moved what apps they could onto it and waited for the savings. Others used public/private hybrid clouds and were more ambitious in the apps they migrated, but still found that unforeseen complications awaited them.

Many early adopters suffered from loss of visibility and poor user experience. While some costs did reduce, others rose, and any savings were quickly undermined by operational ramifications and poor levels of service.

Why it happens

Investing effort, resources and capital into something that doesn’t end work effectively is one of the biggest frustrations when managing a business. The key to solving this, and ensuring the same mistakes aren’t repeated, is understanding why and from where a problem originates.

The reason cloud hasn’t delivered the benefits these organisations expected is because they didn’t go about it systematically. Their lift-and-shift approach overlooked some important architectural considerations, particularly around networking, security and operations.

Before cloud came along, organisations generally had a data centre-centric architecture. Corporate applications lived in the company’s own data centre, and users connected to them over private networks. Internet access was possible, but only from behind heavy central security.

Moving to the cloud without re-architecting the network has led to inefficiencies, poor service and increased costs. For example, forcing data traffic back to the data centre before breaking out to the cloud makes apps run slower and pushes up WAN costs. Meanwhile, security architectures designed for central breakout struggle to cope in the cloud world – operational support also gets more complicated when things aren’t under the organisation’s control.

Add to this the complexities of Bring Your Own Device (BOYD), shadow IT, and users opening personal accounts on public SaaS services, and you can see why companies who thought they could simply ‘move to the cloud’, haven’t achieved their desired outcomes.

What to do about it

The good news is that there are many successful implementations of cloud, where the transition was done strategically. These companies thought not just which apps to move where, but how they needed to re-architect their networks and security. As a result, they’ve reaped the benefits.

Generally, success stories like these happen when the organisation follows a planned journey to move, operate and innovate on cloud through a series of carefully orchestrated steps. These are to assess their current digital estate, plan the best approach to move, and migrate without disrupting operations. Then they manage the routine, optimise redundancy, and re-innovate to upgrade.

To illustrate, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) wanted to consolidate its disparate network systems across India onto one unified platform – without raising costs or impacting on the core business.  By working on one centralised platform, the company has enhanced staff collaboration and productivity, reinforced security and eased network management issues, ultimately reducing capital expenditure and operational expenses.

Another example is Infiniti Retail Group. When the company found that emerging discount challengers were having a detrimental impact on its market share within the Indian retail sector, it decided to adopt a hybrid cloud architecture to give it more flexibility with computing capacity – reducing or expanding with ease.

Successful organisations avoid turbulence in their cloud journey by following a methodology like these examples above. They’re clear about their cloud strategy and business drivers, know if they want to focus on public, private or hybrid cloud, and if they tend towards IaaS, SaaS or PaaS. They assess how virtualised their infrastructure is to begin with, and which workloads they’d like to move. They’re also very clear about what is, and isn’t, possible within their regulatory environment.

Cloud winners design security into their cloud architecture at the outset too. They think about how they’ll accommodate their future plans for DevOps, APIs and containers. They know if they’ll want their applications to run across hybrid clouds, and how they’ll manage back up. Finally, they don’t forget about setting up a new model of operational support and service management for their new environment.

While businesses are keen to embrace technologies that promise increased output and more convenience, it is important to carefully consider core business needs, limitations and future objectives. By marrying this with focused planning and a customised approach, organisations can successfully migrate to the right type of cloud architecture which will help it to thrive.

To learn about the evolution of the Internet from dialup days to a business-critical platform, read Raj’s previous blog here.  

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Business collaboration platforms have emerged as the latest innovation in teamwork. They allow us to send messages, have meetings and share content at the drop of a hat, and they can help make collaboration more seamless between globally dispersed teams.

However, while people have become more efficient in this digital age, businesses also need to be mindful of how communication and collaboration could be negatively impacted by technology.

In a scenario that is likely familiar to us all, we now often email the person sitting a few desks away from us instead of walking over to speak to them. We are actively cutting out in-person communication to save us a few brief minutes – or to have a ‘trail’ of who said what and when. This trend, in the long run, could actually hinder our ability to work together effectively as people and teams.

There’s no I in team

Many businesses, like ours, have embraced the latest technologies that allow people to work remotely and balance the demands at work with those at home. This flexibility can be hugely beneficial – helping to attract and retain the right talent and bring global teams closer together. Yet, it must be accompanied by a concerted effort to foster a culture of teamwork and alignment to the organisation’s values in the real world as well as virtual.

If employees based in the same city don’t bother communicating and spending time with each other face to face, they risk distancing themselves from one another. They may no longer see themselves as a part of that team. This raises the risk of diminished commitment to the organisation’s goals, and weakened alignment across the company, as employees are no longer grounded in a shared environment that feeds their collective motivation.

Unifying teamwork

While it’s not always possible for everyone to sit together around the table in one room, there are a number of solutions that can facilitate communication and collaboration when in-person teamwork is not possible.  And, by combining voice, video, chat, and shared workspaces, with a high quality of service, today’s collaboration technology can actually foster alignment.

To enable globally dispersed teams to work more effectively together, we have joined forces with Poly – known until very recently as Plantronics-Polycom. Together we now offer the first ever end-to-end service for Microsoft Teams underpinned by the reliability and seamlessness of Direct Routing connectivity. With video and audio endpoints worldwide, businesses are able to simplify technology-enabled collaboration with this fully integrated service and build that crucial sense of ‘one team’ even when employees might be thousands of miles apart.  We also help organisations and employees adapt their working styles and really get the most out of new business collaboration tools more rapidly.  This last aspect is important, as it often doesn’t “just happen” – a lesson we’ve learnt in our own digital journey.

One team, one dream

In global businesses like ours, with thousands of employees spread around the world, technology doesn’t entirely replace in-person collaboration, but it does unlock new opportunities.  As our workforce has become more distributed, we’re making a concerted effort to drive our own digital transformation with collaboration tools – while being mindful of the potential downsides.

For us, this means concrete initiatives to build alignment across personal, team and organisational goals, along with helping people learn about new technologies and adapt their working styles to collaborate better.

It takes work, and there have been some important learnings and inevitable missteps along the way. But, by implementing the right technology and embracing the change, we’re actually seeing new and better forms of collaboration, on top of the expected benefits of a distributed workforce – like getting great talent wherever it may be, and improved work-life balance.

It’s an exciting time for our business – and for other businesses worldwide.

Read more about how to pave the way for better collaboration.

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AI can streamline collaboration between humans by automating tedious or repetitive tasks, therefore enabling humans to focus their energy on more value-adding activities that require attributes like empathy, and creativity which machines don’t have. Also, AI systems are not intuitive like us – but what they do bring to the table is superfast analysis, which will guide humans’ decision making like never before.

Imagine sitting in a meeting with colleagues discussing a marketing strategy, or customer usage or buying patterns for a portfolio of products. AI can synthesize large amounts of disparate data and find patterns or insights not readily apparent, or easily discoverable by humans.  That frees humans to spend more time assessing better data, discussing options, and planning a path forward.  In other words, AI doesn’t replace your people or substitute for their skill – it complements and actually enhances their value.

Bridging communication barriers with AI

Businesses across the globe are on a constant path of adaptation and innovation – and seamless collaboration between people is a major enabler of this transformation.  Surprisingly, AI is already being deployed to improve human interaction in global, multi-cultural contact centre applications.

Take for example any of the millions of sales or customer support interactions supported by BPOs in the low cost countries.  A lot of resources are devoted to helping contact centre agents better understand their customer’s language, and even to mimic their accents and manner of speech.  But for a speaker from a different culture, it’s not always easy to detect all the nuances and emotion in a remote caller’s voice.  And even if some agents “get it”, it’s not easy to scale and maintain the successes of your best performers across large numbers of agents spread across multiple locations, shift patterns, and types of work.  By recording, and sometimes transcribing customer interactions, and “training” AI to recognise patterns of speech that lead to successful and unsuccessful outcomes, scripts, training materials, and even real-time “pop up” help for agents can be enabled in the contact centre to improve agent effectiveness.  It’s not even necessary that we humans can articulate what made the interaction successful – we just need to use a branch of AI called natural language processing, or NLP, to “listen” to transactions that lead to a particular result so that it can learn and identify similar patterns in future.  It’s like having your best performing agents listening in and helping every single one of their colleagues hear buying signals, identify hidden needs and upsell opportunities, or understand and respond appropriately when a customer gets agitated.   That would improve outcomes for everyone: your staff, your business, and most importantly, your customer.

Amplifying human skills

Of course, introducing AI to a workforce will take some getting used to. It has the potential to free people from a lot of drudgery, allow them to see new possibilities and make more informed decisions, and complement their skills in myriad ways.  To do that, however, AI needs people to identify where it can best be applied, to change processes and gather data to better apply it, and to pose the right questions and train it with examples to improve outcomes.  That requires people to be engaged and to embrace the transition, not fearful that AI will eliminate their job.  This will require leaders to, well, lead, their organisations in understanding AI’s potential.  They need to communicate and educate their teams, and encourage them to learn and experiment with AI.  It managed well, this transition could open new and exciting dimensions to traditional roles, and throw up great opportunities for people development, while simultaneously driving business outcomes.

This people-centric view will champion curiosity and experimentation, both as personal and organisational traits. The human skills – uniquely human qualities, like creativity, empathy, emotional intelligence, and entrepreneurialism will shape a significant proportion of the future workforce.  So it’s somewhat ironic that the technology many fear will replace us – or even threaten our very existence – actually has the power to help people do more and to magnify their effectiveness.  It may require people to change how they think and what they do, but the reward for doing so is more rewarding work and more valuable employees.

That is why I am so excited to see many of our customers explore the potential of AI-enabled tools in transforming how they communicate and collaborate. As a recognition of our role in helping businesses harness the full potential of the latest digital platforms in how they work together and engage with their customers, we were named the 2018 APAC Managed UC Services Provider of the Year award by Frost & Sullivan. I firmly believe that when more businesses realise the vast potential of AI and embrace innovations like this in how they operate and collaborate, this will spark the positive change that can be felt by employees and customers alike.

Watch Vinod Kumar, MD and CEO of Tata Communications, and Ken Goldberg, Professor, UC Berkeley, discussing how they think AI will impact on jobs and employment in the future.

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As the digital transformation hype reaches fever pitch, enterprises across the globe are busy introducing innovative AI, IoT and predictive analytics enabled solutions to transform how they operate. Yet, too often, transformation strategies are focused on adopting technologies, platforms and automating processes without fully considering their impact on customers, or on how they interact with businesses.

In many organisations, the primary purpose of new solutions seems to be to rectify internal issues and streamline internal processes. Customers are often left with a half-hearted deployment of a chat bot or a basic online portal: neither of which are exactly ground-breaking. Yet, I would argue that digitising any operations that have an impact on customer experience and reimaging customer service through a holistic deployment of innovative solutions, should be businesses’ number one priority.

Tata Communications’ digital transformation survey Cycle of Progress suggests that less than half (48%) of businesses have introduced AI as part of their customer service function. What’s particularly surprising to me is that just 34% of the respondents consider AI to be an enabler of higher customer satisfaction. Similarly, just 36% think that IoT could lead to happier customers.  Decision makers appear to be less bothered about meeting customer experience expectations and more focused on boosting worker productivity and business performance with data.

Customer empowerment in the digital age

 ‘Delighting customers’ is an often used phrase in my field. But I’d argue that most customers, especially in IT, don’t want to be delighted – they just want solutions that are easy to use. This helps drive long-term and increasingly ‘sticky’ relationships. Simply put, provisioning connectivity or cloud storage should be as easy as making a pre-order on your Starbucks app and picking up your steaming cup of coffee 5 minutes later. B2C businesses are setting the bar high when it comes to the effortless customer experiences they offer, and enterprises should learn from them.

Two tech industry giants – Amazon and Google – excel at seamless, effortless omni-channel customer experiences. What boosts customer loyalty further with these companies is that, I, as the customer, can choose what kind of relationship I have with these companies, and the depth of my engagement. So, I can use Google to search for a hotel in New York or I can share files on Google Docs. Taking it to the next level, I can choose to invite Google into my home with a smart speaker. The key is that it’s easy to deal with Amazon and Google, and I’m defining the relationship so I feel like I’m in control.

Customer-centric businesses like these also have the advantage of gaining a lot of insight into how people use their services, which they can use to refine those services and develop new ones. That feeds the continual transformation of the business. Simply put, the better the experiences they can use, the more likely customers are to continue to remain loyal and participate in the ecosystem.

Harness the power of data

As data continues to permeate all aspects of people’s lives both at work and at home, enterprises should harness this data better create more frictionless, personalised customer experiences. Making that accessible via a mobile app that keeps learning from a customer’s previous orders to customise what it serves up and how, and is linked to other CRM systems, will increase customer engagement and solidify your brand in the eyes of the customer.

So, count the number of steps it takes for your customer to get the service or solution they want. That is what matters now. The shorter the journey and the less effort, the happier the customer will be and the greater the return on the cost of sale.

Transforming the entire customer service strategy – with AI and predictive data analytics at the heart of it to simplify and streamline engagement, provide accurate personalisation and identify pain points before they escalate into problems – is an opportunity that IT decision makers should grab with both hands. It is fundamental to the success of today’s digital business because seamless and effortless customer experiences will increasingly determine if your customer will stick with you. It will also determine if the customer will tell others great things about you.

So, if you prioritise how your customers are able to engage with your business, it is going to create momentum that results in long-term revenue gains.

Read how India is accelerating digital transformation through the cloud.

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The Indian Government has launched multiple initiatives designed to accelerate investments and drive growth. While Make in India aims to galvanise the manufacturing sector and create new jobs, Digital India and Smart Cities programmes intend to accelerate India’s passage toward technology and urbanisation.

The effects of this journey are already becoming visible. According to the Global Innovation Index, India is now ranked as the 57th most innovative country in the world, up three places from the previous year. In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, India jumped 53 places in just two years to rank 77 out of 190 economies when it comes to ease of doing business.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) believes that holistically embracing the digital economy is not an option but a necessity to keep India and its businesses at the leading edge of today’s digital world, which will also increasingly benefit the global market. The digitisation of an economy is a proven engine of growth, however, it’s clear India has a fair distance to cover in this regard.

Even as CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, and bringing together industry, Government, and civil society, we have partnered with Tata Communications to help organisations leverage the full power of digital technologies. The CII–Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation will help Indian corporates towards adopting digital technologies to enhance their competitiveness. Additional partners like DELL-EMC have joined us in this initiative and we expect many more to join us in this transformational programme.

What will digital transformation entail in India?

To enable Indian businesses to transform and stay competitive in this digital age will require a high degree of openness to change. It will also require adopting the appropriate technologies, putting in place a robust and secure infrastructure, and skilling our youth not just on these technologies but also in complex reasoning and innovation. It is important that the downstream effects of digitisation spread far beyond urban clusters, and that the socio-economic impact of all such initiatives is tracked.

In the field of enterprise technology, there’s no one size that fits all. However, CII’s current focus is on five:

1. The cloud, as a scalable platform that encourages experimentation and rapid prototyping;
2. The Internet of Things (IoT), since it leads to a quantum increase in productivity and operational flexibility;
3. Big data analytics, to transform information into actionable insights;
4. Mobility, given its success in circumventing last mile challenges to inclusive growth;
5. Info-security, since the explosion in data that digitisation engenders will lead to challenges regarding its safety and privacy.

For instance, in response to volatile business environments, supply chains that underpin all business, are rapidly evolving digitally. Auto Data Exchange (AutoDX) – a secure, cloud-based platform for invoices, orders and shipping notices – seamlessly integrates Indian automotive manufacturers and their component suppliers. While AutoDX has already streamlined the Indian automotive supply chain, it is great to see that the company is now set to adopt blockchain technology to create one of the biggest open ledger initiatives in the country.

Another example can be found in banking: as a CII-PwC study discovered, India’s six largest cities account for 10 per cent of the country’s bank branches, while eight districts in the north-east have just two or fewer branches each. The study highlights that an alternative distribution channel based on mobility and smart devices is the only option to ensure financial inclusion while balancing supply-side challenges, regulatory requirements and cost pressures.

Bringing technologies such as these to bear on issues confronting businesses and the nation will also require a pool of exceptionally talented people. India and the world are staring at an enormous digital skill gap at present. NITI Aayog’s National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence states that India will have a demand-supply gap of almost 200,000 data analysts in just the next couple of years. Another study estimates that 40 per cent of IT professionals in the country need re-skilling just to stay relevant!

Skilling can’t just be about technology – there’s a critical need for socio-emotional and cognitive skills like problem-solving, complex reasoning, creativity, and innovation. Recent studies recommend using digital learning tools in combination with on-the-job training to bridge the skills gap.

If academia, government, and industry proactively skill, re-skill and upskill our workforce, we could turn our current adversity into a wellspring of opportunity by transforming India into a global digital skill hub.

Digital transformation might sound like an impossible dream but that’s what makes it such a potent agent of change — its ability to take on seemingly intractable problems and triumph!

Find out more about the work Tata Communications does with CII Centre for Digital Transformation.

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Traditionally, fuelled by surging consumer demand for mobile services, businesses like Aerovoyc, GiffGaff, Lycra Mobile and Red Pocket contracted network access from mobile network operators to create their own customer-facing offerings. These MVNOs simply re-sell airtime or add additional customer features and functions onto of the existing network.

The digital transformation reshaping businesses worldwide today is making its mark through new enterprise mobility models too. The rapid adoption of cloud-enabled services, APIs and automation, as well as a rise in ‘As-a-Service’ platforms for communications and mobile networks, means that the nature of MVNOs is changing.

For example, this new generation of MVNOs is taking an open technology approach by adopting APIs for system integration, which allows them to configure and merge new services, and create service mash-ups – rather than offer traditional linear mobile services like voice or data.

But, these new MVNO types don’t want to be restricted by the limitations of complex BSS/OSS. They require simple set-up and customer interaction processes. They need the ability to launch services quickly, minimise risk and improve customer satisfaction through transparency and simplicity.

Meet the new players

Today almost any company can become an MVNO and offer value-added mobile services for its customers. This has led to the diversification of the MVNO model, now consisting of several sub-segments that include brand extensions, IoT, roaming, and B2B2C. In my view, the three most exciting MVNOs shaking up this market currently are the digital natives, enterprise MVNOs and device manufacturers.

1. The digital natives

These next-generation service providers and Internet-born companies are looking to expand their service profile to offer a broader range of customer engagement options. It’s about ‘stickiness’ – building a stronger, deeper relationship with the customer by extending the core offering to mobile too. Google Fi in the US is a great example of this. The tech giant uses both the T-Mobile and Sprint mobile networks to offer its customers an easy switch alternative to other mobile services.

2. Enterprise MVNOs

More and more enterprises are actively seeking to gain better visibility and control over their mobile communications. One of the drivers for this is the desire to reduce costs while making the most of different unified communications platforms, IoT services and offering employees access to data and applications anywhere, anytime.

Today, MVNOs are hosted almost exclusively in secure cloud environments – which naturally makes the service more scalable and faster to deploy, and less CAPEX-intensive to manage. This is also making the MVNO model more viable for medium to large enterprises. For example, under an enterprise MVNO, employees could bring their own phone to work and get a branded SIM and associated number, while retaining their personal number. Calls and messages would then be delivered to both, just as they are with services such as Google Voice. Any data used on corporate apps could be charged to the employer, with private app usage continuing to be charged directly to the employee – whether roaming or at home.

3. Device Manufacturers

Any company whose core business is about making things – anything from lightbulbs to white goods – can now become an MVNO. For example, a company like Philips, that is known for making light bulbs can now offer additional lighting-as-a-service solutions that combine its lighting expertise with ubiquitous connectivity. The end result is a connected service that gives its customers greater control over lighting remotely, and new insights on energy consumption – saving money and energy.

Thanks to innovative services like this, the relationship between the manufacturer and consumer is transformed from a one-off transaction to ongoing engagement, boosting customer loyalty.

The next chapter for MVNOs

The new generation of MVNOs show how it is possible to get the best of both worlds: the traditional mobile network operator characteristics of quality, reliability and scalability; but with faster time to market, lower CAPEX, and a range of value-add services to create more seamless user experiences.

This is an exciting new chapter in the global mobility story. While the market is constantly evolving, one thing is clear – there are now more opportunities than ever for forward-looking businesses to innovate and accelerate their growth through new mobile services.

Read our previous blog about the potential of esim here.

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The embedded SIM (eSIM) is paving the way for a truly borderless mobile experience for people and things, and driving digital transformation across the global mobile and IoT ecosystem. More and more enterprises – including technology giants such as Apple and Google – are embracing the eSIM to ensure their devices are future-proof and network-ready, and Ovum predicts that eSIM unit shipments will grow nearly 10-fold from 2019 to 2022.

The conventional physical SIM = a difficult partner

The conventional SIM can enable cost-effective, reliable and secure connectivity. However, it also requires difficult choices to be made very early in the manufacturing process. These choices – such as selecting a particular communications service provider (CSP) for connectivity services – will have an indelible impact on the way a device is connected over its lifetime, regardless of where or how it will be used.

Further complications with the traditional SIM can arise once the device is in the field. Inter-operability issues can make switching CSPs a challenge, especially in an industrial IoT environment.

To illustrate, the use of IoT devices in remote or hard-to-reach locations can be expensive, because staff must be deployed to physically swap one SIM for another to be able to change CSPs. In reality, this may effectively create a situation of CSP lock-in.

Add in the need to comply with regional or national regulatory requirements – which can impose limitations on permanent roaming – and designing connectivity at the point of manufacture becomes a real headache.

Adopting eSIM – what’s gained? (hint: agility, flexibility)

With a 5G future set to be filled with billions of connected ‘things’, the development of the decades-old SIM couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. A fully-integrated 5G-capable eSIM offers flexibility in capabilities never seen before – but this is indeed a revolution, not an evolution.

An eSIM enables seamless switching of mobile CSPs remotely using over-the-air (OTA) updates, without the need to physically exchange. That is why the eSIM can have a transformational impact on IoT. Its benefits include:

• Significant cost savings, both in terms of the manufacturing process and ease of changing connectivity contracts and SIM providers post-production
• Greater control over network selection and customised service, even after the production, shipment and deployment of connected devices
• Easier adherence to country and region-specific regulatory requirements
• Better coverage and enhanced security

Commercial advantages

Because of these benefits, the eSIM also offers many commercial advantages. It simplifies supply chains, meaning that OEMs will no longer need to keep an inventory of SIMs. Most importantly, the eSIM allows OEMs to focus on product innovation, rather than operational concerns. They will be able to design sleeker, more resistant and more cost-effective devices – crucial for an IoT industry seeking small, tough, zero-maintenance devices.

For CSPs, the eSIM open up a world of opportunity far beyond the traditional mobile market. They could provide convergent offerings between a variety of devices – a smartwatch, a mobile device and a vehicle, for example – and generate new revenue streams from new innovative business models.

What’s next for the eSIM?

The eSIM has ushered in a new era of control and flexibility in the way that both consumer and industrial IoT devices are connected. But with any disruption to the digital landscape, new challenges inevitably emerge.

Around a decade of development lies behind today’s GSMA eSIM standards. Yet the new commercial models and benefits the eSIM may bring about are still being debated and tested. Expertise in managing eSIMs may be lacking among OEMs that want to use the technology and take advantage of its flexibility, post-deployment, in the field: while traditional SIMs have typically been configured one time for a specific device, CSPs will need to update their BSS/OSS infrastructure. This is essential – to enable management of devices and new commercial models and to ensure the same level of security and authenticated access to mobile networks provided by traditional SIMs.

Deploying eSIMs may also require CSPs to rethink their own business models. For example, how will the use of eSIM work in markets where CSPs subsidise devices which are locked to their own network? With any large-scale change of this kind, some guiding principles are needed – and adherence to GSMA specifications is critical.

The adoption of an industry-wide ‘hubbing’ model would help address these challenges for eSIM providers, CSPs and OEMs alike. Such an approach would provide full inter-operability between eSIM vendors and CSPs, while supporting OEMs and distribution processes. It would ensure the seamless factory-to-field connectivity that the eSIM is designed to deliver, and create the secure operating environment needed to fulfil the enormous potential of this technology in the future.

Read our previous blog on adopting Global SIM.

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Apply the journey metaphor to digital transformation and planning becomes far more critical than simply a ‘nice to do’. In fact, it’s a vital stage of the process if you’re intending not only to identify the destinations you’d like to pass en route but also create a timeline for costing, delivering and measuring success along the way.

The business rationale for embracing a digital future is compelling. Harvard Business School research – as highlighted by CIO’s Clint Boulton for example – suggests that leading digital companies generate better gross margins, better earnings and better net income than organisations in the bottom quartile of digital adopters. Leaders post a three-year average gross margin of 55 percent, compared to just 37 percent for those more reluctant to dip a toe in the fast-rising waters of the digital tide. From Disney and Porsche to the New York Times and Rockwell Automation, the list of digital success stories is fast growing.

Change sometimes, though, is easier said than done. The 2018 KPMG Harvey Nash CIO survey shows that 78 percent of nearly 4,000 CIOs worldwide say their digital strategy is moderately effective or worse. Establishing a digital starting point to move forward has never been more critical.

Finding your digital bearings

Many businesses’ ambition is to be cloud-first and enable their employees to work as effectively on-the-go on their smartphone as on their computer in the office. This trend means that the enterprise network has evolved into a business environment that must seamlessly link employees, customers, partners, apps and data across cities, states and countries.

Yet, as ambitious brands increasingly place their customers at the heart of everything they do, many are discovering the limitations of the traditional WAN. That’s because it’s simply not up to the job of delivering the performance, dependability, security and cloud readiness that customer-obsessed businesses need. In his recent article, Why Network Transformation Is Foundational for Digital Transformation, Zeus Kerravala talks about how the network has a direct impact on the success and failure of digital initiatives. Take the example of a healthcare conglomerate implementing video as a service to facilitate telemedicine. A poorly designed network can cause transmission errors, making it difficult for the patient and doctor to communicate with each other. Add into the equation the wide choice of new tools out there and it’s not surprisingly a bewildering picture.

Explorers, Transformers, Innovators

More and more businesses are looking to transform how they operate and serve their customers by re-imagining their network. While there are major differences between businesses’ approaches to network-enabled digital transformation, there are certain commonalities too.

There are Explorers who have established a higher level of maturity in one or two network transformation areas but are in the process of aligning strategy with digitisation initiatives. Nissan started internally with a move to a “digital workplace” and is in the process of adding new technologies like chatbots and machine learning that can be used for customer conversations and later, sales. Transformers are already invested in network transformation but in a fragmented way that restricts the enterprise from exploiting the full benefits of hybrid infrastructure, as they may be struggling to move to the cloud or protecting their investments. For Innovators, network transformation and digitisation strategies are already fully aligned. It also signifies that the hybrid WAN is agile enough to respond to fast-changing business needs, as well as improve automation and predictive analytics programmes to support a highly programmable network. Coats Group went head-on to move from the “industrial age to the digital age” with a cloud-based business model that uses a data lake, IoT, and predictive tools for manufacturing costs, sales, and inventory.

The epicentre of customer focused business in a digital world translates to robust and secure connectivity. Yet, the reality is that one of the key inhibitors to the transformation to which so many enterprises now aspire is the enterprise network. Only by re-imagining the WAN can businesses create seamless technology-enabled customer experiences and ensure the success of their digital transformation.

To find out whether your business is an Explorer, a Transformer or an Innovator, check out our WAN Maturity Model.

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Many enterprises are increasingly adopting a ‘mobile first’ strategy to unleash employees from their desks and enable them to work on-the-go, with seamless access to applications and data. Despite this effort, traditional connectivity options for travelling employees are not without compromise, especially when it comes to using enterprise applications.

These options include local roaming operator plans, switching off data roaming in favour of local Wi-Fi and a second SIM (either a standard travel SIM or local prepaid SIM). Yet, all these options lack usage and security controls and can lead to unpredictable costs – i.e. bill shock – not to mention a poor user experience that leads to reduced productivity.

Clearly a fresh approach is needed to solve this problem. But deploying seamless, cross-border enterprise mobile communications services can seem challenging. For a start, mobile network operators are licensed on a national basis. This often restricts enterprises to dealing with a single network in any given market, without giving them control over policy management needed for consistent and cost-effective connectivity. What’s more, with around 900 mobile operators operating across 200 countries, it’s prohibitively complicated and expensive for an enterprise to negotiate its own roaming agreements to offer their employees truly seamless cross-border mobile experiences.

But there’s light at the end of the tunnel: an innovative global SIM approach is set to transform mobility for enterprises and employees alike. The benefits this approach offers compared to existing solutions are clear.

1. Better user experience

With a global SIM, quality of service (QoS) and experience (QoE) are managed and supported by a single service level agreement. This helps deliver a consistent user experience no matter where in the world employees are travelling, enabling them to access applications and data reliably and securely just like at home. This in turn leads to increased workforce productivity.

2. Easier management

A global SIM approach enables the enterprise to replace hundreds of roaming relationships with a single aggregated contract with a global connectivity provider. Through a management portal, the IT team is able to define the boundaries of each employee’s mobile usage, from time and cost through to application type. For example, the use of data-intensive applications like Netflix might be restricted for all employees. The global SIM approach therefore simplifies the management of mobile connectivity and services globally, helping to not only reduce spend but also ensure that mobility costs are far easier to predict too.

3. Security, security, security

With more and more enterprises falling victim to hacking and other security breaches over the past couple years, and regulations like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposing hefty fines on those that fail to safeguard their data, security is at front of mind for many.

Unscrupulous individuals can use unsecured, public Wi-Fi networks to infiltrate enterprise networks and stage devastating attacks on businesses. These attacks can bring a business to its knees, halting operations and revenue generation, and causing huge reputational damage.

A global SIM approach helps protect the enterprise network, and by extension it’s revenue and reputation.

Why the time for global SIM is now

The global SIM concept is new, but it is rapidly gaining popularity amongst businesses in different sectors. It is particularly beneficial for enterprises where travelling is an inherent part of the business.

The airline industry is one obvious example: the global SIM can be used by pilots and cabin crew to access passenger and cargo data and flight plans, anywhere, anytime. But it’s also ideal for global sports series. Motorsports and golf are just a couple of examples of sports where events are held in different parts of the world throughout the year, requiring hundreds of staff to stay seamlessly connected, no matter where the next competition takes place.

With a global SIM approach, mobility can be seen in the same way as the worldwide web and cloud infrastructure. It is all about empowering employees with anytime, anywhere access to applications, data and a range of communications and collaboration services. Simply put, creating truly borderless mobile experiences.

As enterprises look to reinvent how they operate with the cloud and the latest digital platforms, and become mobile-first businesses, it’s time for the SIM to be reinvented too.

Read more about how borderless mobility is empowering global enterprises here.

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We also saw cyber-security take centre stage in the geopolitical landscape as the conversation around state-sponsored hacking and attacks targeting critical infrastructures raised tensions across the globe. A recent example is news from McAfee that a new organised hacking operation, ‘Sharpshooter,’ is specifically targeting critical infrastructure providers in sectors such as energy, finance and defence.

From a business perspective, there is also cyber-security anxiety among decision makers, with many citing security and privacy as a factor that is hindering their digital transformation progress. Results from our recent Cycle of Progress survey showed that 40 per cent of all respondents listed security concerns as a prevalent issue, with 37 per cent also citing privacy.

While this may paint a gloomy outlook, we can prepare our defenses for the rest of 2019 and beyond. To help inform these plans, here are some of the key cyber-security trends we anticipate seeing this year:

New regulations impact data protection policies

The introduction of new data regulations, such as the EU’s GDPR will have a significant impact in 2019. While GDPR is good news for improving data security, it presents a major challenge for businesses. And while it has been in place for some months, major penalties for non-compliance have only just started to emerge in 2019. Organisations of all sizes are having to completely rethink their data protection policies to cope with multiple sets of ever-changing international data privacy regulations.

AI plays a bigger role in cyber-security

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most transformative technologies in recent years. In fact, global AI-derived business value will reach nearly $3.9 trillion by 2022, according to Gartner. However, the technology could also be used by hackers to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks. The good news is that AI can also be used by businesses to identify and protect against such threats. For example, machine learning-based cyber attack prediction platforms can help security researchers to triage threats and address the most urgent ones as quickly as possible.

Demand for cyber-security skills continues to rise

The skills needed to deal with continually changing cyber threats must evolve and the challenge for businesses is to stay ahead of the game. However, we are facing a global shortage of cyber-security skills in the workplace. There are 2.9 million open cyber-security positions, according to a recent report from the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or (ISC)², which is a significant increase from the 1.8 million noted in the previous year’s report. As more companies go through digital transformation, we will see an increased focus on nurturing the required cyber-security skills among the existing workforce, as well as recruiting more specialists.

Focus continues to shift from prevention to resilience

In 2019, we’ll continue to see a shift away from prevention to resilience when it comes to security breaches. These threats can no longer be completely avoided so the focus should now be on identifying and dealing with these breaches as quickly as possible. Resources previously focused on cyber attack prevention will continue to be reassigned to protection well into 2019 and beyond.

IoT technology drives next-generation security

As Internet of Things (IoT) technology is becoming more prevalent, the challenge of protecting sensitive customer data has become increasingly complex. Manufacturers and service providers must ensure that their devices, platforms and software ensure a certain level of security for their users. As well as consumer hardware, such as smart home devices, IoT technology is also used extensively in the retail and manufacturing sectors, making security a priority. The rise of IoT is helping to drive the development of next-generation security frameworks that can be adapted to support emerging technologies and new security threats as they develop in future. What’s more, data generated by IoT devices can help to spot security flaws as well.

Businesses of all sizes at risk from cyber criminals

While large enterprises are clearly a target for major cyber-attacks, some 58 per cent of data breach victims are actually small businesses, according to a Verizon report. With less budget to spend on security, smaller businesses can be seen by hackers as soft targets, offering a high return for a minimal amount of effort. Typical cyber threats include ransomware, Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and malware. According to the report, personally identifiable information (PII) was compromised in 36 per cent of all data breaches over the previous year, highlighting the importance of safeguarding against such attacks. The healthcare sector was the most frequent victim of cyber-attacks, says the report, while breaches in the financial industry have fallen, following large-scale investments in cyber-security.

To know more about how to keep your organisations’ operations and reputation safe, visit Tata Communications’ Cyber Security Response Centre in Chennai.

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We’ve seen several game-changing events within the technology industry in the last 12 months, such as the roll-out of GDPR across Europe in May and the crash in Bitcoin value, potentially signalling a bubble-bursting moment for cryptocurrencies. We’ve also seen the lines between technology, politics and society become increasingly tangled, exemplified in Facebook’s ongoing battles against fake news and the continuing fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

In spite of all this, the Cycle of Progress study shows that business leaders remain unwaveringly positive about the impact of technology innovation on their businesses and society as a whole.

Based on our findings, I see several technologies continuing to lead the way in 2019, namely Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain.

The evolution of IoT

More than half (53%) of Cycle of Progress respondents say that they have adopted IoT in some shape or form so far.  Already well established in many businesses, IoT applications and services are leading the pack in having the greatest positive impact. It helps businesses gather and analyse real-time data to enable everything from improving the customer experience to streamlining supply chain operations. And the future looks bright, with 48% of decision makers seeing it as having the most significant impact, ranking above any other emerging technology in our study.

While IoT has been consistently on predictions lists in recent years, I see the technology being implemented in a more meaningful way now, as more interesting use cases arise across vertical sectors. I’m particularly excited to see how IoT can support sustainability projects such as creating new ways to battle food waste in the agricultural industry.  I believe that IoT – supported by advanced connectivity solutions such as 5G and LoRaWAN – will continue to go from strength to strength especially in emerging markets such as India, where a staggering 69% of Cycle of Progress respondents reported to have adopted the technology.

AI goes mainstream

This brings us to another data-driven elephant in the room: AI and machine learning, which are increasingly being integrated into a variety of services, making the technology far more accessible and digestible than it was just a few years ago. From consumer applications like Alexa Skills, which has been implemented by organisations such as the Lancashire Police in the UK, to the built-in machine learning in the security solutions we use to keep our businesses safe from hackers.

At Tata Communications, we are using AI to sharpen our recruitment processes, for example. Previously, our hiring managers used to skim through job descriptions to shortlist candidates. Now, they save time and effort by using an AI-based automated tool that auto-matches a candidate with best-in-class individuals, with the latter acting as the benchmark.

According to the Cycle of Progress, AI has already been adopted by 46% of global businesses like ours in some way. What’s even more interesting is that – despite the scaremongering around the potential negative impact of AI on people and jobs – just 8% of business leaders who took part in our survey have no plans at all to start using AI. Furthermore, 43% of decision makers see AI as having a positive impact, and only 3% of business leaders think that it will have a negative impact. So, it seems that the fear of sentient robots has abated for now!

Blockchain finds a new lease of life

Perhaps one of the most hyped new technologies of the digital era is blockchain. Shared ledgers like blockchain have the potential to enhance security while also boosting efficiency and speed. Yet, up until recently most people have tended to associate the technology exclusively with cryptocurrencies, which are currently moving from peak to trough – exemplified by the current fluctuations in Bitcoin. However, the potential of blockchain goes way beyond crypto currency, and our survey shows a global implementation rate of 44%.

While the outlook for digital transformation in the coming year is positive, implementing new technologies like blockchain is not without its challenges. In fact, business leaders cited cost as the biggest barrier to integrating new innovations, while security and privacy were also highlighted as major challenges. There is also significant concern over the ever-growing skills gap, with 30% of decision makers stating that the lack of the right skills in their workforce is preventing them from adopting the latest technologies.

A constant cycle

So, what does our study tell us about the way ahead for global businesses’ digital transformation?

It seems that ‘digital transformation’ has become such a widely used term and much-hyped concept – it can be easy to forget what it actually means. I like to think of it as a constant cycle of progress. Businesses use the latest technology advancements to thrive and survive in this constantly evolving environment, often dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

To make a real difference to the bottom line, technology-enabled business transformation must have speed, scope and impact. And, as transformation gains momentum in businesses, new possibilities present themselves. For example, the successful use of AI-enabled tools in customer service can inspire a business to extend the use of AI to increase efficiencies in internal collaboration through more automated processes that shift administrative tasks from humans to machines. So, finally, empowered by transformation like this, businesses aspire to evolve further, completing the cycle and starting it all over again.

While our study shows that there is more work to be done to enable organisations to maximise the potential of the latest technologies, the future is bright. Next-generation innovations like IoT, AI and blockchain are set to have a huge impact in 2019 and beyond, with businesses aspiring to harness these technologies to evolve constantly and gain a competitive edge in the digital economy.

Read more about the findings of Cycle of Progress here.

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In the bustle of crowded streets in cities the world over, people speed through their busy lives. In the middle of all this, it’s easy to take things for granted. Mobile connectivity anywhere, coffee at the tap of a credit card, same-day deliveries – not to mention reliable access to essentials like electricity.

As the world continues to grow in population, over 7.6 billion according to the World Counts, new solutions must be implemented to ensure the wellbeing of all. This is especially true in our ever-expanding cities across the globe. And, as a second most populated country, India is the perfect setting for implementing smart technologies.

The urban innovation rises in India

The world is today increasingly urbanised, with well over half of the world’s population living in cities, while more than 80 per cent of global economic activity stems from cities.

By 2030, it’s estimated that cities and towns will be home to 40 per cent of Indians and contribute three-quarters of India’s GDP. It’s no surprise that a recent report by Oxford Economics states that in terms of the top 10 cities for economic growth, India’s urban areas are set to dominate the globe over the next two decades.

While no country has achieved economic success without urbanisation, it does come at a price. Cities, as they grow in size and increase in population, inevitably cause pollution, for example. The challenge for the Indian Government is to manage urban growth, improving infrastructure, and ensuring economic sustainability.

That’s how the Indian Government’s Digital India plan aims to transform citizen services. In particular, its Smart Cities Mission focuses on crafting a sustainable, inclusive and replicable development model. The Mission emphasises good governance, efficient resource management, public-private partnerships, standardised processes, rapidly-deployable initiatives, stakeholder collaboration, rigorous monitoring, and speedy incident resolution to get this done. Smart cities will also require holistic cyber-security that covers both citizens and institutions and protects them across all technology layers.

None of this is possible without deploying cutting-edge digital technologies, whether in greenfield cities like Andhra Pradesh’s upcoming capital Amaravati or in millennia-old ones like Bhubaneshwar.

Barriers for technological advances in cities

Amaravati aims to be among the top 5 “Happy Cities” globally, encompassing the highest standards of liveability and infrastructure with a thriving economic environment. The city is being developed from the ground up with smart grids that not only deliver water, cooking gas and electricity but also cover security, LED street lights, internet access, flood control and sanitation, amongst other services.

The challenge with established cities, however, is a lot greater.  On top of expected costs that new technologies come with, existing cities also are in need of retrofitting legacy infrastructure and connecting disparate service providers, as well as managing the changes to core processes and the way that the bureaucracy functions.

Bhubaneshwar’s E-mobility plan is a good illustration of this. The project is ambitious, as it involves a large number of contributing factors like amending building bylaws, extending road networks, migrating to electric buses and e-rickshaws, developing charging hubs for e-vehicles, and more. All of this would then be governed by an intelligent transportation system, with control centres and video analytics.

Regardless of the challenges, these examples demonstrate the crucial role that technologies, such as Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data analytics, play in making Indian cities smarter, more sustainable and more liveable for citizens. Aside from fuelling automation, it is clear that digital technology can create true transformation as well. It is also clear that it can’t be done in isolation. It will require nurturing collaborative public-private partnerships to convert the promise of these technologies into value for citizens.

Working together towards a smarter future

Collaboration is key to ensure we are all moving in the sustainable future together. For instance, Tata Communications has partnered with Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Co. Ltd. (JUSCO) to implement India’s largest deployment of smart streetlights. The project which encompasses devices, application, network and even platform services, helps JUSCO save energy, reduce maintenance costs, generate real-time reports, and reduce carbon emissions.

This is one example amongst thousands, where companies are working hard to invest in their cities’ futures. Transforming India’s urban clusters will require a high degree of technological standards and a culture that believes in using technology as an agent of change.

Our partnership with CII for the CII-Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation aims to be a catalyst to drive adoption of mobile, cloud, IoT and cyber-security while shoring up the digital talent pool. It is only through such collaborations that we will be able to digitally transform India’s cities into the new nerve centres of growth, and enable citizens to truly prosper.

Read about how India can accelerate its economy digitally here.

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Statistics published by the International Labor Organization (ILO) prove that this, sadly, is not the case. Many organisations are failing to meet the basic safety needs of their employees, sometimes resulting in tragic fatalities and significant financial burdens.

These sobering statistics drive home the pressing need for businesses–big and small–to give high priority to strengthening their occupational health and safety practices. While most are implementing robust governance and well-defined business processes as essential, the innovative few are also embracing next-generation technologies, specifically the Internet of Things (IoT).

Enterprises can now leverage IoT across their industrial landscape to bolster employee health and safety. The interconnected web of sensor-embedded devices is helping businesses to monitor their vital physical and human assets to predict vehicle mishaps, property damage, employee absences, near misses and injuries. This is done by analysing data spanning different assets and work sites to discover patterns, and proactively forecasting health and safety-related issues for predictive intervention.

Rolling out IoT will also let enterprises collect relevant data in real-time during disasters, thus facilitating faster and better rescue efforts. Implementing IoT, alongside other next-generation technologies such as cloud computing, Big Data and wearables, can also allow businesses to track their workers in a contextual manner. Employers could use geolocation tools and historical enterprise data concerning specific work sites to alert staff regarding potentially hazardous situations.

The business benefits companies–especially utilities, industrial equipment OEMs, oil and gas companies and transportation providers–can reap by adopting IoT for health and safety are wide-ranging. Here are the four major ones.

Recruiting and retaining talent

This isn’t the most obvious of benefits, but by anticipating occupational hazards proactively with IoT and taking preventive measures, businesses can better recruit and retain top-quality talent.

Employees are increasingly focused on wellness management in the digital era- particularly the millennial generation. For this reason, businesses can ill afford not to enact robust health and safety measures. This is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’, but an expectation.

Reducing accidents in hazardous conditions

By using IoT to protect employees who operate in hazardous conditions, corporates can significantly bring down the number of work-related accidents, illnesses and injuries. This, in turn, will enable them to reduce staff compensation, insurance-linked medical reimbursements and other associated costs, besides plugging revenue leakages resulting from lost productivity.

Limiting knocks to that ‘halo effect’

 Let’s be honest, in 2019, perception is everything–especially when it comes to global enterprises. While investing heavily in charitable initiatives is the preferred way to establish a ‘halo effect’, large-scale employee lawsuits are a sure-fire way to end it. Harnessing IoT to enhance health and safety will help organizations minimise reputational damage caused by workplace accidents. A safer workplace will mean a lesser number of potential lawsuits and regulatory backlash, as well as negative media coverage, resulting from occupational incidents.

Complying with regulation

Businesses can comply with relevant health and safety regulations with the help of IoT. With domestic health and safety laws getting more onerous, they can use real-time data analytics and mobility to protect employees spread far and wide and reduce physical and environmental stress in potentially hazardous conditions.

Finally, promoting a health and safety-driven work culture via IoT adoption can pave the way for sustained employee safety. Businesses can analyse data collected over weeks and months to estimate their long-term exposure to possibly hazardous conditions. They can integrate this data with HR and scheduling applications to revise rostering mechanisms for maintaining exposure below acceptable levels.

Conclusion

To operate and succeed on a global level, business must not only adhere to but live by best practices in health and safety. Employee health and safety will no longer be accepted as a nice-to-have. The sooner businesses realise this, the better. With employee safety in front of mind, they will be well placed to boost their operational efficiency, workforce productivity and brand image.

IoT, in conjunction with mobility, wearables, and data analytics can help businesses strengthen health and safety for better compliance, talent management and cost optimisation. Businesses that recognise this opportunity earlier and embrace the technology will have a head start over the competition in attracting and retaining talent going forward.

Interested in staying safe online? Read our previous blog on cybersecurity.

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But for companies that treat regulatory compliance as an opportunity, robust compliance programs combined with a strong culture of ethics can serve as a competitive differentiator. In fact, one recent study suggests a significant correlation between effective ethics and compliance programs and a firm’s increased performance against their competitors, especially in stock price growth.

While the cost of compliance is no doubt increasing across industries, there is none so more impacted as the BSFI industry. Banks are some of the most highly regulated businesses in the world. U.S. and European regulators alone have levied close to $342 billion in fines on banks since 2009 for noncompliance (and that total is predicted to top $400 billion by 2020).  Banks continue to spend a substantial amount of their resources on regulatory compliance, and this will only continue to increase as the regulatory landscape becomes more restrictive and fragmented.

The sheer volume and complexity of these regulations will require banks to adopt a flexible and integrated approach to their operations and infrastructure so they can quickly adapt to the ever-changing market conditions and demands of their customers and regulators. The consulting giant Deloitte put the situation well in a recent article for the Wall Street Journal:

“Banking organisations need to keep moving forward as planned, with deliberate linkage between regulatory strategy; business strategy; and building infrastructure for governance, regulatory reporting and risk management that scales and is flexible. The good news is that many of the changes banking organisations are currently implementing make good sense from a business perspective — not just a regulatory perspective — and are worth doing no matter how the future unfolds.”

The point here is that regulations can be seen as both a carrot and a stick; and if we look at compliance through the lens of operational excellence, it is at least partially “de-fanged.”

In order to remain competitive, banks need to shift their approach to regulatory compliance from purely tactical to innovative-led solutions – looking instead at the entire end-to-end process of deploying flexible tools, systems and infrastructure to drive real efficiencies and increase compliance.

One of the main obstacles faced by many banks in implementing a seismic change to their compliance programs, however, is that they tend to be mature businesses that have accreted complexity in operations and systems over the years. Specifically, in IT, they will have pursued faster performance through successive generations of hardware and software. This will have led to overlapping programs, applications and services that can make finding that much-desired “single version of the truth” difficult to pinpoint, analyse and make informed decisions – and this will no doubt make any internal change a complex and time-consuming process.

Thinking ahead

As banks continue to digitally transform their businesses, their data strategy and infrastructure must be inherently flexible, because the ability to securely manage and monitor vast quantities of data is critical to any compliance program. Banks must have the capability to feed data from many sources into centralised monitoring systems while maintaining the quality of data in terms of accuracy, timeliness and other factors.

One interesting opportunity for banks is to adopt adaptive IT systems and associated APIs, which will open up a whole new ecosystem of partners and business models. With the rise of the “API Economy,” in which firms plug in to off-the-shelf software and web protocols, many companies are adopting open architectures and reusable “low code” developer environments to bring speed and flexibility into their IT environments. It is also why many IT leaders are saying “no” to proprietary approaches that lead to vendor lock-in and restrictive core-architectures, which over time becomes a hindrance to a firm’s agility. And with open banking becoming more of a nomenclature in today’s digital economy, the ability of a bank to design their infrastructure and data sets to meet the demands of their customers, regulators and shareholders will be of utmost importance to their continued survival.

Compliance without the headache

I would submit that not many in the banking industry would willingly call out for more regulation, but for those CEOs, CIOs and others that have been charged with compliance, it is not uncommon to hear that they came out of what they initially perceived as Dante’s nine circles of hell with more control over the quality of their systems and their data and a more competitive business model poised to capitalise on the new digital economy.

So, when thinking about regulatory compliance, CEOs and CIOs should likewise consider whether their current systems and tools are creating roadblocks to or enabling their firms’ overall success.

Read on about why banks are rethinking unified communications.

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Take Philips, a company best known for making light bulbs, as an example. The connected world enables Philips to combine its lighting expertise with ubiquitous connectivity, allowing customers to create long-term lighting plans, optimise performance and save on energy, maintenance and depreciation costs. By incorporating connectivity to shift from a product sales model to a services model, Philips has essentially become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in its evolution to provide “lighting as a service.”

Philips is a great example of the new generation of MVNOs — companies looking to launch and maintain value-added service capabilities that differentiate them in the market. Communications-platform-as-a-service providers have distinguished the new MVNOs from the traditional by offering their services via APIs, which developers use to create IP-based communications services.

The next step in becoming an MVNO is to implement mobile network as a service (MNaaS), which offers a platform for developing and managing cellular connectivity and mobile network policy applications via APIs. MNaaS is unique because it eliminates the need to build and maintain the mobile telecommunications infrastructure; instead, it is integrated with virtualised network capabilities to provide the consumer with greater levels of security, reliability and control.

The MNaaS model is a perfect fit for IoT providers who require embedded connectivity in their smart systems. This approach allows them to benefit from a software-based mobile virtual network enablement model — meaning they don’t have to invest in telecommunications infrastructure. They can instead scale up or down as the situation dictates, creating the flexibility needed to serve millions of subscribers, who may be geographically distributed around the world, rather than just a few hundred in a specific location.

The “X as a service” model is in its infancy and its varied impacts on the internet of things could be huge, mainly due to the number of industries that are developing connected systems. With expanded access to connectivity, as well as lower-cost and higher-performance modems, a wide variety of assets can now be upgraded to collect and transmit data. Using AI and machine learning, this data can be turned into useful business insights, leading to more efficient operations and improved customer service. Overall this would give rise to new services, new businesses and new living standards.

In smart city deployments, sensors connected to central control systems allow businesses and municipalities to monitor and create improved access to parking for employees and citizens. Based on the data collected from the sensors, drivers can use mobile applications to access route mapping and real-time views of parking spaces, and use predictive analytics to see what parking spots will be available when they arrive at their destination. Managers can also use the application to manage parking employee assignments at a given location or project site. This type of improved parking situation can also help with traffic flow and reduce illegal parking. So, if you work at a site where parking is limited and you drive laps around your office parking lot or job site just to find a parking spot, this could solve your problems.

Meanwhile in healthcare, networks of connected devices would bring the treatment to the patients’ doorstep, rather than making people travel distances to get information about their health. Patients can capture data about their own health via wearable devices and doctors can communicate with patients through a combination of online portals and other IoT devices, which could change the nature of the doctor-patient relationship and the way healthcare information is delivered.

For companies looking to launch an IoT “X as a service,” the programmability of MNaaS, via API integration, makes it easier to develop new applications and customer portals. So as an MVNO, you’re able to have improved visibility over your service in order to maintain control, enforce key business policies and ensure system security. The result is far greater operational efficiency — as in the case of the parking lot operator or building manager — and faster speed to market. In other words, you end up fitter, leaner and with a competitive edge.

The demand for companies to meet these expectations is only going to grow. A report by RnR Market Research indicates that global analysts expect the “X as a service” trend to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 38% by 2020. The proliferation of the trend opens up a world of new opportunities for businesses to enhance their services and develop new commercial models to boost value for customers.

But to do this, businesses across industries must stay nimble and capitalise on the many opportunities becoming available thanks to the digital platform economy.

Read Tim’s previous blog on the convergence of IoT and AI.

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UC can do a lot, from providing a better experience for customers and building more lasting relationships, to driving operational efficiencies and enabling regulatory compliance. But while a great deal of effort has been applied to capturing internal benefits to the organisation, the application of UC in external-facing, customer interactions is really just getting started.

Branch banking is a case in point. For years, banks have considered how much they invest in physical branches and what they do digitally. Branches are expensive to maintain; however, branch closures tend to generate negative publicity and concerns that banks aren’t caring for local communities, or worse, not doing well financially.

But by leveraging UC to complement and enhance face-to-face interactions, banks not only can expand the range of branch services and improve customer interactions, but also become more efficient. For example, customers can leverage immersive video from a branch to consult with specialist advisers dispersed across branch locations. This gives customers access to the bank’s best resources from every branch, wherever their locations, while also allowing the bank to utilise talent more fully, driving efficiencies and more business. Non-specialist personnel can still handle administrative tasks at the branch, while experts can spend the bulk of their time focused on what they do best.

But it’s not an either/or binary decision and banks can use UC to support part-time branches and have staff who work across the branch and the virtual contact centre. So, the bank is effectively maintaining virtual and physical channels without having dedicated staff committed to one or other channel.

The role of UC in tomorrow’s branches

In “Retail Banking 2020: Evolution or Revolution?” writers from PwC predict that the branch will evolve in several ways:

Branches will remain, but take many forms, from flagship information, advisory and engagement hubs (offering education, financial advice, full-service capabilities and community offerings) to smart kiosks (offering service, sales, cash and video contact with a range of specialists).

In other words, we’re observing a coming together of physical and virtual channels and UC can be a powerful model for covering both bases.

Beyond the branch, banks can use UC to create more dynamic connections with mobile-first customers. For example, the State Bank of India (SBI) rethought the way it uses UC across the business, and built a UC app backed by a global contact centre to enable real-time and personalised communications between high-net-worth customers and their relationship managers. Using the app, customers can check the availability of their advisers, send messages, initiate voice or video chats, conference with multiple specialists, and even initiate trades. The app was designed with security top of mind, and compliance to applicable regulatory requirements. It records and documents all interactions, and integrates seamlessly into the bank’s records to automate back-end functions. Such applications give customers control and immediate service wherever they may be, while also driving efficiencies for the bank.

I could share myriad examples from other financial institutions all over the world that are exploring how best to leverage UC technologies in ways that dramatically improve customer experience. In doing so, these organisations are differentiating, increasing customer loyalty, and even enhancing their brands. In the digital world of today, no amount of advertising and PR can compete with a more convenient and tech-savvy user experience. The brands that “get it” and best cater to how their customers want to be served — or to serve themselves — will be the ones that emerge as winners. In this respect, it is still early days for UC in the banking world, and there is still considerable opportunity for the technology to have big impact on business.

Read about how banks are transforming their business to stay competitive here.

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In India, this transformation has not been as smooth compared to some other markets, and some are questioning whether India’s infrastructure is prepared for it. A study titled India’s Readiness for Industry 4.0 by Grant Thornton and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) found that as of 2016, India was globally ranked 91^st in network readiness for innovation. Consequently, Indian businesses still have a far way to go before being able to compete on level footing with many other global organisations.

There is no doubt that there is a need for digital transformation. The key question is, how can India match the rate of innovation and achieve a standard that can compete with the rest of the world?

Barriers to digital transformation in India

To answer this question, we must recognise the barriers that currently exist. The first is security. Growing digital capabilities creates an increased risk of data security and privacy breaches, not only in India but across the world – exemplified by the number of breaches we’ve witnessed all over the world this year. This is a large cause for concern for businesses and can lead to inaction. However, not embracing new digital functions could mean falling behind competitors.

Another problem involves securing talent – skilled and experienced workers who can carry out these essential changes. The issue is further complicated for businesses in India where there is a big talented workforce, but few people with hands-on experience in emerging new technologies. This skills gap can make it difficult for organisations to embark on the digital transformation journey.

To overcome these and other similar barriers, Indian businesses need to take a collective approach to collaborate with the government on these issues.

Government and enterprise collaboration

Identifying some of these concerns, the Indian government has already launched initiatives aimed at accelerating digital transformation across India. For example, there have been programmes designed to help India’s cities become smart cities. Coupled with projects like Make in India and the digitisation drive we’re seeing, these initiatives all aim to make India a world-leading technology hub. But government involvement does not guarantee results, if industry leaders themselves don’t also take the initiative.

CII and Tata Communications saw this missing link as an opportunity, and through our collaboration created the CII-Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation.

The mission of this initiative is to evolve and leverage a digital transformation movement that transforms India by e.g. building systems of intelligence and helping organisations adopt intelligent cloud solutions to reinvent their productivity and business processes. It’s all about enhancing their effectiveness and inclusive growth.

The first step is helping organisations understand where they are in their digital transformation process, while taking key learnings from our research on digital readiness to influence the right policies in India.

Experience lies at the core of understanding how businesses work; the centre will leverage this fact by building a best practices knowledge repository. Looking at past use cases is crucial for progress, as people learn from both missteps and successes.  The centre will also conduct studies on the impact of AI in the workplace and emerging smart city technologies.

As a response to the rising security threats that can sometimes follow digitisation, the CII-Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation is also planning to launch a skills-building programme for cybersecurity to meet the challenges of an increasing digital world.

The centre will be dedicated to reinforcing the foundational pillars for digital transformation, and become a key part in enabling India to seize the opportunities digital technologies offer.

Read more about powering India’s digital ambition here.

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Securing IoT devices is challenging for several reasons. A rapidly increasing number of gadgets are becoming smart devices, and as manufacturers roll out new products more quickly, security can be given low priority as the focus is on time to market and return on investment metrics. A lack of awareness among consumers and businesses is also a major obstacle to security, with the convenience and cost-saving benefits of IoT tech appearing to outweigh the potential risks of data breaches or device hacking.

For years, consumers and businesses alike have been obsessed with securing computers and smartphones. But in reality, those devices are less at risk than more simplistic connected items. PCs and smartphones, while penetrable, benefit from over a decade’s worth of security developments and regular updates to guard against new threats. The requirement to protect sensitive data that was stored on and/or transmitted through PCs and smartphones was recognised early. However, certain connected devices, like a children’s toy which could be linked to an interactive smartphone or PC app, may not be equipped to deal with the same standard of threats, because they are not necessarily associated with handling the same type of information.

An unsecured connected toy, though, poses an entirely different sort of danger than hacking into a computer. Malicious hackers could use these toys to gain access to the home’s internet or communicate with and even physically harm children. While it’s an unlikely scenario, it is nonetheless important for parents to be keenly aware of the security and data collection methods of their children’s favourite toys.

A blessing and a curse

The Internet of Things promises more freedom and functionality for businesses than ever before, with the technology being used in sectors like supply chain, transportation, logistics and healthcare. Eventually we could see almost every home device connected to the Internet – with either explicit broadband connectivity or “behind the scenes” data collection used by enterprises as part of their managed services models, which can be incredibly valuable for businesses. Much like the children’s toy example, most IoT devices can serve as entry points into a home or corporate network, exposing families and companies to significant data breach risk. For industrial IoT, those entry points can provide hackers with access to private servers, which is problematic given 80 percent of the world’s data sits on private servers, mostly operated by businesses. And it’s not just corporate sensitive information at risk – many of these business servers contain sensitive personal data of consumers, which could be jeopardised in attacks and leave unwitting customers open to theft.

Data that lives natively on an IoT device is similarly vulnerable. For instance, the use of commercial drones has become prevalent in sectors like agriculture, military and construction, due to their versatile applications and access to real-time data. If the operators of these drones leave them unsecured, hackers can access them and install malware to strip out sensitive business data, including pictures and video.

While businesses cannot stop IoT attacks from happening, they can be proactive in mitigating threats to network security and protecting valuable data and IT systems. Emerging platforms like blockchain can help secure IoT devices by getting rid of a central authority in IoT networks. This would enable devices in a common group to issue alerts if asked to perform unusual tasks, thereby decreasing the capabilities of a hacker through a single entry point.

For their part, consumers must hold businesses to higher standards and approach any IoT-related purchase with a critical eye. They should conduct thorough research and verify that everything involved with their smart device purchases is legitimate – from the website reviews that inform their decisions to the retailers and manufacturers from which they buy. Luckily, organisations appear to be aware of the increasing threats to IoT security. A recent Gartner report indicates that worldwide IoT security spending will reach $1.5 billion in 2018 and will more than double to $3.1 billion by 2021.

While securing the Internet of Things is a monumental challenge, doing so will become increasingly important in preventing business and personal catastrophes. It will also allow companies to put the focus back on the primary intents of IoT – to collect and analyse more data to optimise processes, reduce costs, improve quality of service and enhance the customer experience.

Read Tim’s previous blog on IoT interacting with artificial intelligence here.

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Modern cybersecurity depictions and commentary in the media are often accompanied by a shadowy, hooded figure. The image embodies the uncertainty and anxiety around cyberattacks but holding on to this perception perpetuates the concept of cybercriminals as intangible villains who fly under the radar. This gives the impression that we’re in the dark on cybersecurity. By bringing these potential threats into the light and visualising them, we see them in sharper focus and can make clearer, informed decisions on how to tackle them.

This is something we’ve taken quite literally here at Tata Communications, having recently launched a new Cyber Security Response Centre (CSRC) in Dubai and followed by Chennai, today. The Chennai CSRC visualises the entire security experience so that business leaders can better understand and see the threats that they are fighting; knowing that they will be serviced with 24/7 security support, 365 days a year, to stay one step ahead of evolving cyber threats around the world.

Turning the spotlight on emerging threats

As high-profile cyber-attacks keep growing in numbers, security threat mitigations have quickly become a top priority. Interactive visual walls, dashboard displays, 3D object recognition and a virtual reality experience provide a glimpse of the security capabilities that can help organisations build and monitor cyber security platforms, as suited to their business needs.

Security concerns are further amplified as organisations move forward in their digital transformation journey and adopt new technologies. According to Gartner, nearly 20 percent of organisations observed at least one IoT-based attack in the past three years. Similarly, cloud security is also a concern for businesses and this market is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2017 to $3.5 billion in 2021. As organisations use new technologies, the chinks in their armour begin to show. Sophisticated security providers know how to leverage the same emerging technologies to provide higher end security prediction and mitigation – for example, using machine leaning and big data analytics.

So as the threat landscape continues to evolve rapidly, so does the need for agile security tools to combat these threats. Even as we look to deploy productivity tools like automation, it can well be weaponised by hackers in the form of damaging attacks like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). This is what makes today’s cyber space and threat landscape so different. What was once a single hooded figure, now closely resembles a multi-headed hydra. As such, organisations need to be equipped with a wide variety of security tools across their network and application layers such as security information and event management (SIEM), cyber threat intelligence, cloud-based security and an attack prediction platform based on machine learning.

Lighthouse to the world

More than ever, businesses must be proactive and predictive. By selecting the right security partner they can adopt a more strategic approach to cyber security, as opposed to remaining reactive. There is also a role to be played by the combined forces of the security services providers, governments and private organisations. Risk and compliance, data privacy laws, regulations around data sovereignty are all critical pillars of defence which play a key role in protecting against cyber threats. This makes it critical to have a provider that has a strong regional presence and expertise and can comply with national laws.

As we look to expand our global footprint, we will soon introduce a CSRC in Europe later this year to help customers comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), followed by a US facility in 2019. We aim to continue to provide real-time security and analytics to customers globally – with advanced intelligence that enables them to keep their cloud operations secure across all points of access. Considering the damage cyber-attacks can wreak on an organisations’ reputation and bottom line, it’s more important than ever that businesses invest in the right security tools, talent and presence. Businesses who do so mitigate the risk of an attack and enjoy a competitive advantage over lesser prepared competitors.

Read more information on minimising business risks and protecting user experience here.

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The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2023 there will be a staggering 9.1 billion mobile subscriptions. And, according to Cisco, by 2020 connected mobile devices will produce 30.6 Exabytes per month and annual global mobile data traffic will reach 366.8 Exabytes.

To meet the demand for collection, transport, storage and analysis of all this data, telecom providers are busy building digital infrastructure to enable the ever-growing information economy. With regards to transporting larger amounts of data at high speed with low latency, the latest telco investments are focused on building 5G networks.

The leap in quality from 4G to 5G could be huge, and much more significant than the jump from 3G to 4G. To illustrate the difference, consider that currently, 4G LTE transfer speeds top out at about one gigabit per second. That means it takes about one hour to download a short HD movie in perfect conditions. 5G will increase download speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. That means a full HD movie can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. It will also reduce latency significantly (giving people faster load times).

Wireless networks such as 5G will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the enterprise in the long-term while fixed networks will remain a necessity due to both bandwidth and security reasons. Having greater flexibility to scale networks up in regards to throughput size and speeds as well as scale down to support low-power, narrowband is a key requirement for Enterprises looking to efficiently deploy a wide variety of Enterprise Mobile and IOT use cases at scale across multiple operators and multiple locations around the world.

The enhanced speed and flexible connectivity of 5G networks will drive fundamental change and, in fact, will create entirely new approaches to businesses and business models.

For example, 5G networks will allow factories to cut cables to their machines and put more intelligence into both edge computing and the cloud. This will lead to cheaper robots, quicker change times and much more flexible production.  And the high speed of 5G will give machine operators real-time insights on the overall status of the project, and provide the opportunity to explore machine-learning and predictive maintenance, which reduce expensive downtime.

The impact of 5G on factories is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how the speeds of 5G will reshape the world of the Internet of Things and mobile devices. While 4G revolutionized the smartphone experience, 5G will have an even bigger impact on other smart consumer “things” – such as autonomous vehicles. Everyone is talking about driverless cars and its impact on our lifestyle. Though still in the infancy stage, the autonomous vehicle network will heavily rely on net-gen mobile networks to handle the high levels of data across all areas – such as car diagnostics and journey details that will rely on real-time data to navigate around.

For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to analyze the huge amount of data generated by driverless cars and the urban infrastructure that supports them, including smart road signs and traffic lights. Thanks to 5G, the insights gained could be used in new ways, such as reducing the amount of breakdowns and providing more detailed real-time traffic reports and air quality information.

We are at the beginning of a new era of global connectivity, with speeds we’ve never seen before.

The adoption of 5G is going to be critical to fully realize the vision of a mobile first, connected work force that will have optimal bandwidths at the mobile edge to support improved collaboration and communications.  We expect an explosion of more advanced IOT use cases that will consume greater bandwidth – particularly as we look to use cases which drive increasing interactions across different IOT endpoints and mobile end-users, leveraging augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine-learning.  All of these higher bandwidth use cases require a faster, more responsive “network on demand” in order to realize their full potential.

Read about how IoT and AI will connect here.

The post What will drive the 5G revolution? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Creating this world, where multiple service and technology layers work harmoniously together to create ubiquitous, ultra-connected experiences, is a task that will take years to complete. It requires a robust technology platform, powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

By 2025, IDC predicts that there will be over 80 billion connected “things” creating and replicated more than 180 zettabytes every year. Yet today, only a very fraction of the data that people and businesses generate, collect and store ends up being used to its full potential.

The convergence of AI and IoT can change this, by creating a connected system of things that can be leveraged in everyday life. This can, and must, lead to the creation of an industry-wide ecosystem in which data from connected devices can be shared and monetized by everyone. Such an eco-system could be defined at industry vertical level, or it could create connections between different industries – a combination of vertical and horizontal approaches. Supply Chain Management is a good candidate for such a treatment.

There are clear indications that the telecommunications industry has already succeeded in aligning these types of efforts: we are moving from a network of discrete cellphone towers, associated with and operated by different mobile network operators, resulting in incomplete coverage, depending on which mobile network operator a subscriber used, as well as what location they were in. The trend towards shared infrastructure helps to create better scale economies and a seamless experience for cellphone users as a result. This trend reflects economic and operational common sense, thus proving the validity of a common infrastructure for IoT, powered by AI.

We are heading towards an environment in which, instead of having many discrete applications, controlling multiple environmental factors, there is the potential to have inter-connectivity through a unified platform. Let us take the example of home automation. Imagine if you are sitting in your living room and you feel a cold draft. Instead of the thermostat simply raising the temperature, the thermostat will understand that a window in one room in the house might be open and alert you to that fact. This is an area where the value of a combination of IoT and AI lies moving forward. For these types of connections to work, there also needs to be an advanced network to connect all of this data and analytical processes together.

The technology revolution we’re living through has,and will continue to change our approach to many aspects of daily life, but it won’t happen overnight.  So-called ‘industry earthquakes,’ like AI and IoT, must continue to evolve and the industry must come together to make this a reality.

Read more about AI and its potential in the workplace here.

The post How AI and the IoT will interact appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Borderless mobility is a priority for companies that offer connected consumer devices, such as GPS trackers and smartwatches. Chinese GPS device maker ThinkRace turned to Tata Communications’ MOVE IoT Connect when it was looking to enhance its global connectivity for better network coverage so that it could offer services in new markets.

The company is now able to roll out products faster, while the products themselves are more seamless and cost-effective for end users. In another example, Doki Technologies used MOVE when it needed to secure a global network for the launch of its smartwatch for children. Using Tata Communications MOVE, Doki is able to ensure that the experience for its customers is not compromised, regardless of their location.

Data-driven mobility

As well as enabling international coverage for consumer devices, borderless mobility is essential for enterprises that revolve around real-time data. For example, Hongdian, a provider of machine-to-machine communications began using the Tata Communications MOVE platform to facilitate real-time data updates between ATMs and bank branch systems. Providing improved visibility across ATM systems, the platform now enables banking partners to better manage ATMs and deliver a smoother user experience to its customers.

The ability for a seamless connection in any location is also essential for IoT-based services where transport is involved. One example is fleet management, where the progress of vehicles can be managed from a central location.

Tata Communications MOVE allows fleet management firm Systems & Technology to provide reliable real-time data for smart school buses. This enables the company to provide parents and school administrators with updates on bus location, drivers’ behaviour and vehicle performance.

Fleet and cargo management company Jointech also makes use of the  Tata Communications MOVE platform to keep up with container tracking once the cargo reaches its destination. This helps the company to reduce financial losses resulting from tracking lost cargo.

The future is borderless

As IoT technology continues to expand into new vertical industries and areas of enterprise, the importance of borderless mobility cannot be underestimated.

The ability to provide reliable and ubiquitous mobile connectivity anywhere, anytime is paramount. This ensures a consistent user experience for connected consumer devices and a reliable service for IoT-based enterprise platforms. What’s more, it gives companies the ability to expand into new markets, without the need to make huge capital investments in their own infrastructure or negotiate deals with local network providers.

Organisations that can offer their customers, partners and employees a truly borderless mobile experience will have a strong advantage in the digital era where using the IoT to provide an always-connected experience is key.

Read more about how borderless mobility is empowering global enterprises here.

The post MWC Shanghai 2018: how borderless mobility can boost business – part 2 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Securing IoT devices is challenging for a number of reasons. A rapidly increasing number of gadgets are being turned into smart devices and as manufacturers roll out new products more quickly, little priority is given to security.

Eventually we could see almost every home device connected to the Internet, not necessarily with any consumer benefit but instead geared towards data collection, which is incredibly valuable for manufacturers. A lack of awareness among consumers and businesses is also a major obstacle to security, with the convenience and cost-saving benefits of IoT tech appearing to outweigh the potential risks.

Another challenge is securing not only the IoT devices but also the networks over which their data is transferred. In the past, businesses haven’t always focused on building end-to-end security into the network. This is set to change as attitudes evolve, with 46 per cent of organisations ranking ‘securing IoT within the organisation’ as a high priority for 2018, according to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report.

What happens next?

So, is it really impossible to secure the Internet of Things? While it’s certainly a challenge, the industry is developing new ways to protect IoT devices from increasingly sophisticated hackers, and there will be significant opportunities for those working in the IoT security space. Blockchain may well be part of the solution, though a group effort will be needed to ensure that IoT technology evolves in a way that is both beneficial to consumers and businesses and secure from hackers.

Education is also key and makers of IoT devices, ISPs and the government must play a vital role in boosting awareness of IoT security among consumers and businesses. At a government level, it may also be necessary to provide education to boost the digital literacy of policymakers. More regulation and standardisation is needed to ensure that IoT devices adhere to a certain level of security, while manufacturers must develop clear privacy policies for their IoT devices and ensure that consumers know how to adjust the security settings. Even simple steps such as not setting default passcodes as ‘0000’ or ‘1234’ could help keep devices more secure in the future.

While security has too often taken a back seat in the development of IoT technology, manufacturers must begin to build protection into their devices. Network providers can also help address the IoT security threat by creating end-to-end infrastructure that meets industry-wide standards. Providers that offer a secure network will have a competitive advantage in the long run.

Read more about securing the IoT here.

The post Is the Internet of Things impossible to secure? Part 2 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

IoT is now a key factor in digital transformation, particularly in areas such as logistics. Connected equipment like smart vehicles and tracking devices on cargo can assist remote fleet management and smart supply chains, but to be truly effective they require a reliable transfer of data that is not limited by geographical location.

This is why mobile connectivity needs to be borderless — to enable companies to operate beyond the constraints of international boundaries. The idea of global connectivity is one of the themes covered at MWC Shanghai 2018, where more than 550 exhibitors and 60,000 attendees are gathering together across seven exhibition halls to explore the opportunities for ‘creating a better future’.

Borderless is better

Not only does borderless mobility enable reliable services for consumers, regardless of location, it also enables businesses to globalise their services. The Tata Communications’ MOVE platform is built on partnerships with hundreds of mobile communications service providers.

This means that Tata Communications MOVE – enabled devices or providers can seamlessly hop from network to network when they cross borders. Tata Communications recently revealed that it is working with Singaporean ISP MyRepublic, which is looking to expand from providing home broadband to mobile services.

Using the Tata Communications MOVE platform has enabled MyRepublic to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) without having to invest heavily in its own mobile network infrastructure or service management capabilities.

This approach means that companies can expand into new geographies without the need to negotiate separate data connectivity agreements with mobile network operators (MNOs) in each location.

Freedom to roam

Tata Communications also recently partnered with the Singapore-based Internet of Things (IoT) start-up W-Locate to help the firm accelerate its international growth and expand into new countries. Not only does this allow the firm to offer seamless IoT-based services to its customers, it also enables it to significantly reduce roaming costs for its customers.

W-Locate estimates that working with a single global IoT partner like Tata Communications will help it reduce its capital expenditure by an impressive 35%. This capital can be invested in developing value-add services for customers and further international expansion.

In part two of this blog post, I will discuss how borderless mobility powered by the IoT can be used to improve customer experience as well as expand into new geographies.

Read more about empowering enterprises with borderless mobility here.

The post MWC Shanghai 2018: how borderless mobility can boost business – part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

This was one of the themes discussed at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). IoT technology featured heavily at the trade show, with connected items ranging from a passenger drone to the next generation of smart city technology, and IoT security taking centre stage. One session focused on how blockchain might help to secure IoT devices in the future. Best known as the backbone of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, blockchain is a shared ledger where data is automatically stored across multiple locations. The indisputable digital paper trail makes it ideal for financial applications, but it could also be applied to IoT.

IoT devices increase the amount of entry points into a home or business network, which in turn could give hackers access to devices such as computers that contain sensitive data. Using blockchain technology could reduce the risk of IoT devices being put at risk by a security breach at a single point. By getting rid of a central authority in IoT networks, blockchain would enable device networks to validate and protect themselves. For example, devices in a common group could potentially stop or alert the user if asked to carry out tasks that appear unusual, such as being commandeered by hackers to carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

IoT security and drones

Also highlighted at MWC was the importance of securing IoT technology for use by drones. Drone technology is a rapidly emerging sector within IoT and the risk of hacking could not only cause a data breach, it could also pose a major risk to public safety. Thanks to their versatile application and access to real-time data, commercial drones are used across a wide variety of sectors including agriculture, military, construction and have even been used to deliver packages, while consumer drones have also grown in popularity in recent years. However, as with many IoT devices, security is often an afterthought leaving many drones vulnerable to hackers.

If a drone’s own telemetry data is accessed, hackers could take control of it while in the air. This could place people in physical danger if the drone was purposely crashed or hijacked to carry harmful substances such as explosives or chemical agents. A hacked drone could also be used for spying through onboard cameras, or malware could be installed enabling hackers to strip out sensitive data collected by the drone, including pictures and video.

While there is an increasing amount of drone legislation being introduced, much of the focus is on airspace and where drones are allowed to fly. However, the importance of securing the network that drones submit data on should not be underestimated.

In part two of this blog post we will discuss why securing IoT devices is such a monumental challenge.

Read more about securing the IoT here.

The post Is the Internet of Things impossible to secure? Part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

As the name suggests, the defining element of our future is information, composed of lots and lots of data. Managed correctly, this can translate to exciting applications of technology based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

While it may seem daunting to know where to start, businesses of any size can access these kinds of technologies in 2018 thanks to easy access to affordable, scalable cloud packages. These days most major cloud providers have a suite of AI capabilities that businesses can, with a bit of imagination, use as the building blocks for new ways to improve process efficiency through automation and create new products and capabilities for customers.

AI’s ability to process information at beyond superhuman speed promises better management of processes, systems networks and information, making it a strong business tool. Examples of how organisations have utilised AI are varied and innovative, covering everything from improving air quality to wildlife conservation. By using the cloud, any organisation can find an AI solution that can be scaled up or down depending on their requirements.

Another technology that offers huge potential is IoT. The practice of connecting any potential ‘smart’ devices to a network is already creating huge waves for a range of industries, including applications in agriculture, city planning and manufacturing. Typical examples of this technology include sensors that monitor and evaluate their own performance and can order a replacement for themselves if they stop functioning. This can lead to huge savings in terms of time and cost as it automates the whole process.

So far, the case for moving a business to the cloud has been to increase flexibility and to lower computing costs, but now cloud offers businesses the tools they need to adopt these latest technologies. This is especially important as older businesses look to keep up the pace with their innovative digital native counterparts.

However, businesses looking to invest in these technologies will need a huge amount of computer processing power. Unfortunately, not many organisations have the option of building their own bricks and mortar data centres, but this need not be a barrier for your business as thanks to the cloud, state-of-the-art data centres are at your fingers irrespective of the scale of your business.

Developments in the industry are already well underway to support an organisation move to the cloud specifically with these new technologies in mind. For example, at Tata Communications we recently extended our partnership with Google to provide support for its recently launched Partner Interconnect service. This service enables customers to connect to the Google Cloud Platform from anywhere at a high speed, giving businesses the flexibility they need to successfully launch these new technologies.  It is also extremely easy for businesses to work with Partner Interconnect, as its partners – including Tata Communications – have already set up and certified the infrastructure with Google Cloud, hence minimising efforts for organisations.

Without a doubt, the technologies we use to power our businesses are evolving and organisations need to be agile and innovative enough to figure out where it can add value to their business. They say every journey starts with a single step – using the cloud for your business gives you the direction to walk confidently into the new Information Age.

Read more about the impact of cloud on the connected world here.

The post Businesses moving into the ‘Information Age’: Is cloud the solution? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The ‘anything as a service’ trend, which global analysts predicted will grow at a CAGR of 38% between 2016 and 2020, isn’t just the preserve of enterprise applications. The digital economy, combined with on-demand commercial models associated with MNaaS, will bring about seismic changes – and not just in the way MVNOs interact with their host operators.

Patterns of mobile usage will evolve, as will the way providers create value – and with that comes new models and opportunities for the entire mobile communications industry. Together, the MVNO model and digital platform economy will shape the structure of mobile over the next decade.

Indeed, the MVNO market has already changed and become fragmented. Today, a number of MVNOs supply specialist communications services to specific segments and niche markets.

MNaaS brings golden opportunities

 The new generation of MVNOs – like Philips – want to launch and maintain value-added service capabilities that differentiate them in the market. And, they want to do this by using a combination of a cloud-based model, communications service integration via APIs and mostly web-based self-care options – all requiring relatively little physical communications infrastructure.

Here’s where the MNaaS model is a perfect fit. With it, MVNOs benefit from a mobile virtual network enablement model, so they don’t have to invest in infrastructure or software. Instead, they can scale up or down as they need to – so they can viably launch a new proposition to serve from just a few hundred through to several million subscribers.

This mobile platform-based approach brings big advantages. By enabling an international mobile market structure, it ensures global voice and data connectivity across multiple international networks.

Not only that, API integration makes it easier to develop new applications and customer portals – so as an MVNO, you’re able to maintain control and enforce policy, security and visibility. The result is far greater operational efficiency and faster speed to market. In other words, you end up fitter, leaner, and with a competitive edge.

If you thought becoming a virtual communications service provider meant significant investment, think again. Times are changing. The new digital economy and MVNO models have disrupted the industry – so much so, that it’s now possible, thanks to platforms such as our Tata Communications MOVE, for almost any organisation to enter the market as an MVNO, without crippling capital investments.

It’s all about businesses across industries to stay nimble and capitalise on the many opportunities becoming available thanks to the digital platform economy.

Read my previous blog on Anyone can become a CSP part 1 here.

The post ‘X’ as a service: The transformation of the mobile industry appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

There are four key trends shaping the manufacturing industry at present: industry 4.0, IoT (and IIoT), AI-enabled machine learning and fundamental changes in cloud infrastructures are creating a wave of innovation that is sweeping manufacturing businesses worldwide.

These digital technologies are poised to transform every link in the manufacturing value chain, from research and development, supply chain, and factory operations to marketing, sales, and service.

Becoming smarter with Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is taking manufacturing by storm because of its focus on automation and data exchange integrating many or all parts of manufacturing, including physical, cyber, IoT, cloud, and cognitive computing. According to Grand View Research, the global smart manufacturing market is predicted to be worth nearly $400 billion by 2025, up from $172 billion in 2016. Moreover, by 2025, the automotive industry will be the biggest user of smart manufacturing in North America, followed by aerospace and oil industries.

Siemens, for example, recently upgraded its 80-year-old electric motor manufacturing plant in Germany. The digital solutions the company adopted include new control interfaces, connected machines, and improvements to the flow of information between design and the computer numerical control systems that manage machining operations. This increased throughput times by 40% and new machines rates by 60%. They now showcase the plant as a smart factory for existing and potential customers.

Siemens is just one example though. McKinsey experts have reported that a staggering 89% of companies in the U.S., Germany and Japan expect Industry 4.0 to increase their operational effectiveness, and 80% believe that it will even have an impact on their overall business model.

Creating opportunities with the IoT and IIoT

The manufacturing industry is also undoubtedly leading the way in industrial IoT (IIoT). According to Zebra Technologies, by 2022, 64% of manufacturers believe their factories will be fully connected with the latest IIoT technologies.  These technologies have streamlined and simplified many manufacturing processes in revolutionary ways. For instance, production robots now have sensors or software that send information to remote teams; some apps can gather real-time feedback and send alerts on defects or damaged goods; and other apps can help track working schedules of factory workers. These simple yet critical implementations of IIoT reduce cost and waste. Beyond machine-to-machine, the IIoT lets employees contribute data to organisational compilations through both personal feedback and workflow-based analytics. While current figures peg IoT devices around 20.35 billion, due in part to IIoT growth, projections for 2025 indicate that devices will exceed 75.44 billion worldwide.

Smarter with machine learning and analytics

A machine’s ability to learn and adopt intelligent human behaviour may not be a new phenomenon – but it is fuelling further demand for connected sensors and ways to collect and move data to analytics systems, and transforming the nature of manufacturing. It is now easy to reduce wasted time and materials, as well as optimise accuracy and workflow through spotlighting previously missed production opportunities; influence changes in daily scheduling as per employee productivity peaks and lags; and manage raw materials and manufactured parts flowing through a manufacturing network.

Xylem, a maker of water management solutions is on that journey. The company is not only leveraging social, mobile, IoT and analytics in a service-oriented architecture to help connect employees with customers, but is also building a roadmap for a new service delivery platform and savings through process improvements, standard technology platforms and AI-enabled robotic process automation.

Cloud, fog, edge – getting the architecture right

Industry 4.0, IoT (and IIoT), AI and analytics are paving the way for better-integrated workflows and smarter manufacturing. Yet, all of the technology innovations that are shaping this industry rely on two things: cloud computing and cloud connectivity. Volume, latency, mobility, reliability, security, privacy and network bandwidth are common networking challenges in today’s industrial plants. These challenges are fuelling the need for a more open architecture. Whether moving to cloud application platforms, open systems, or fog computing and lightweight edge solutions, the idea is to make the challenge of industrial big data manageable.

Manufacturing is quickly transforming from mass production to bespoke solutions. Not only must the right products be delivered to the right place for the right price, the process of how products are designed and delivered must be at a higher level of sophistication harnessing the latest IoT, IIoT and M2M technologies. To strengthen their competitiveness and move fast in this increasingly digitised environment, more and more manufacturers are now working with digital partners to help make their vision for the future a reality – today.

Read more about taking the brakes off the Internet of Things here.

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Consumers have embraced this – so much so, that they now expect to be able to use the freedom and convenience of mobile as an enabler of their daily lives in a way that is always-on and seamless.

The always-connected world has opened up opportunities for businesses that have previously been focused on ‘making things’, to generate new revenues from different mobile-enabled added services. For example, a company like Philips, known for making light bulbs, can now offer additional lighting-as-a-service solutions that combine its lighting expertise with ubiquitous connectivity. The end result is a connected service that gives its customers greater control over lighting remotely, and new insights on energy consumption – saving money and energy. Philips might not see themselves as communications service providers, let alone a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), but that is essentially what they have become when they incorporate connectivity as part of their shift from a product sales to a services model.

This trend opens up fresh opportunities for all kinds of businesses. Instead of merely competing on price, they can now launch new propositions, enhance their services and create new commercial models that add new value for customers.

Best of all, they can achieve all this without the cost of building new mobile infrastructure or developing new software.

Unpicking the ‘x’ as a service trend

Traditional MVNOs pioneered a move from a capex to opex-based commercial model for supplying a range of communications services.

Refining the commercial innovation of MVNOs, Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, which are cloud-based platforms for developing and maintaining communications applications, have pushed virtualized telecommunications functionality even further. CPaaS providers offer their services via APIs, which developers use to create IP-based communications services that are integrated with online applications and are made available “over-the-top” of any broadband connection.

From CPaaS, the logical next step is Mobile Network as a Service (MNaaS), offering a platform for developing and managing mobile communications applications via APIs, without having to build and maintain the development infrastructure, but integrated with traditional network capabilities to provide greater security, reliability and control to the customer.

In the second part of this blog post, I will discuss how the ‘anything as a service’ trend has transformed the mobile industry and how enterprises can take advantage of the new possibilities it has unfurled.

Read more about the new mobile ecosystem here.

The post In the always-connected world, anyone can become a CSP – part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Many devices will be in permanent roaming mode, while others will switch between domestic connectivity and an international roaming connection. For example, a connected car may have all its connectivity set up for one particular country, but when it crosses an international border, the whole system switches to a roaming setup.

In a roaming world, enterprises are looking at MNOs to offer data plan flexibility, including low data usage plans and shared data plans. While low data usage plans are ideally suited for devices where usage is highly predictable, shared plans offer a usage allowance that can be shared across multiple devices.

To keep tabs on usage both nationally and internationally, enterprises also need failsafe monitoring. Visibility through alerts or online portals lets companies set and amend usage thresholds. If a device is just about to reach its usage threshold, those head office managers will know they’re ahead of the game and can take immediate action. Alerts help to keep usage down and also prevent potential fraud.

Cost-effective connectivity

Beyond monitoring usage, companies may also want to set up user policies, including who can use a device and how they can use it, as well as when and where they use it.

Tata Communications MOVE can help enterprises manage these needs of visibility and control, while enabling them to switch between roaming and domestic connectivity seamlessly. Tata Communications MOVE works on the principles of virtualised and programmable MNaaS (mobile network as a service), which ensures network independent global connectivity. Its API based integration supports enterprise applications and portals to give complete visibility and control. This results in a flexible way of operating, and a means of enforcing usage policies.

Technologies such as eSIM and network function virtualisation (NFV) can enable enterprises with more control on borderless device connectivity as enterprises and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) gain the ability to dynamically select the network operators they wish to get connected to. While eSIM offers a virtual control mechanism, a hub is required to be created to normalise the differences in its specifications.

This gradual shift in the power dynamics between enterprises on the global communications demand side and MNOs on the global communications supply side can evolve further, with enterprises seeking to establish themselves as MVNOs, thus gaining even more control over their own communications tariffs policies and costs.

The web is worldwide – mobility should be too

It is important to think truly globally. When we use the worldwide web, it’s exactly as the name suggests – worldwide. The same concept now needs to apply to mobility and IoT as they work towards offering end-to-end connection between multiple devices or humans and devices.

A confluence of technological developments is contributing towards this vision. NFV and virtual SIM, along with cloud-based technologies are paving the way for a virtualised, platform-based approach to connectivity and control. These technologies will help establish the consistency, giving more control to enterprises on their own connected devices. More visibility and control of the usage will encourage enterprises to adopt IoT solutions, enabling the global mobile economy to thrive.

Read more on intelligent mobility strategies for global enterprises here.

The post Empowering global enterprises with transparent mobility – part 2 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

While IoT has undoubted transformational potential, there continues to be a concern over lack of visibility of device usage which can lead to unpredictable cellular-expenses for the customer.

For example, an employee is travelling to different countries for customer meetings. Since she will be busy with work commitments, she might not be able to check if specific usage rates of her mobile connection have been met or exceeded. As the device is being used in trans-border mode, it can soon clock up very high roaming charges.

Enterprises need to be able to control devices and actively manage how they’re used so that the employees don’t come back with huge mobile phone bills.

Mobility needs visibility

While the above example is related to human-to-machine connectivity, the need for better visibility and control is equally pressing for machine-to-machine communications – especially in sectors where devices are crossing national borders on a regular basis.

This includes supply chain, transportation, logistics or commercial vehicle fleet management. Beyond operational information of the IoT device, it is imperative for the IoT connectivity provider to provide visibility about what devices are being used and where. This will ensure complete visibility and transparency for enterprises and end-users, allowing them to guard against any overspend.

IoT connectivity providers also need to offer flexibility when it comes to national and international services. Mobile services are typically provided by nationally licensed mobile network operators (MNOs) and their partner mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Such mobile services allow customers to enjoy mobility anywhere – provided they stay within one particular national jurisdiction.

However, this approach is insufficient for businesses with global footprint and aspirations – that already have operations in different countries or are looking to expand geographically.

IoT requires more choice and flexibility, as mobility becomes truly global.

In part two of this blog post, I will discuss how the digital economy and need for visibility impacts cross-border mobility.

Read our previous blog for more information about managing intelligent enterprises.

The post Empowering global enterprises with transparent mobility – part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The challenge for IoT device manufacturers is that the standard method of soldering or inserting IoT SIMs by hand into devices is time-consuming and expensive. eSIMs enable device manufacturers to not only embed connectivity into anything without a physical chip but to also re-programme SIMs over the air (OTA) for millions of devices simultaneously.

Imagine a global steel plant, where all workers wear an IoT-enabled activity tracker type bracelet to monitor key variables such as air quality and heart rate to help ensure their health and safety in tough conditions. Being able to re-programme eSIMs inside all the wearable devices OTA simplifies their management and helps to make global IoT deployment more practical and affordable.

Another example is a logistics business with hundreds of vehicles in its fleet, with each vehicle equipped with IoT-enabled sensors collecting huge amounts of telemetry data every day. The challenge for the company is how to harness the full power of all this data for maximum insights and efficiencies, without breaking the bank due to roaming charges as its vehicles cross from one country to the next. eSIMs and Soft SIMs can help slash roaming costs in this scenario by automatically switching mobile networks, or re-programming the SIM OTA with a new profile to ensure best rates and coverage. It doesn’t stop there though – an eSIM-enabled managed service can also include other value-add services for logistics such as localisation, scheduling, asset management, temperature sensing, video monitoring and vehicle diagnostics – all integrated with the core supply chain management systems of the business.

One company reaping the rewards of eSIMs and re-programming OTA is Links Field Networks, an IoT connectivity provider for a range of different industries. We’re working with the company to enable it to quickly and easily download its eSIM profile OTA onto thousands of its customers’ devices. With Tata Communications MOVE embedded at the chipset level, Links Field IoT devices don’t need a physical SIM – any device can simply be switched on in any country, and it will be instantly connected, with the local MNO profile loaded onto it OTA. Tata Communications MOVE also gives Links Field and its customers complete visibility over data usage patterns and tariffs through an API-rich, fully automated environment.

Adapt and thrive

 As eSIMs and Soft SIMs start to become mainstream, we may well see a shift in the competitive landscape for not just MNOs but for the whole mobile ecosystem. New device form factors and IoT applications will emerge, and businesses will be able to unleash the full potential of truly global mobile and IoT services.

So, rather than the end of an era, these new SIM technologies should be considered as a new beginning – one that gives all businesses in the mobile world the chance to renew and reinvigorate what they bring to the sector today and tomorrow. This evolution will favour those who are ready, willing and able to adapt and become more agile in response to new competitive pressures and opportunities.

Read my previous blog on innovations in eSim technology here.

The post eSIM and Soft SIM – a new era for the mobile ecosystem? PART 2 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

The use of SIM cards goes back to early 1990s. Yet, while they are still prevalent, the conventional physical SIM, as we know, is living on borrowed time. In a world that is increasingly digital and virtual, the use of embedded SIMs (eSIM) and Soft SIMs are starting to gather pace. Simply put, a device with an eSIM comes with a SIM chip built-in, straight out of the box. A device with a Soft SIM doesn’t have any SIM hardware at all – the SIM functionality is delivered onto the device virtually, or over the air (OTA), once the user switches it on.

Both these technologies make the process of starting to use a new device such as a smartphone simpler and quicker. And, they help break down traditional (and costly) geographical barriers when it comes to mobile connectivity between different countries. What’s also exciting is that they open up a new world of possibilities when it comes to form factors: to-date, having to squeeze in a SIM or even a micro SIM has limited manufacturers’ options when it comes to items that can be equipped with connectivity. That’s no longer an issue, spurring innovation by bringing connectivity to previously un-connected ‘things’.

The end or start of an era?

Both eSIMs and Soft SIMs allow subscribers to switch operators instantly, without the hassle of SIM swapping. While great news for users, this is stirring debate about whether these solutions mark the beginning of the end for mobile network operators (MNOs) – because without the conventional link to the subscriber it will be impossible to retain stable revenue streams. After all,over-the-top (OTT) services using VoIP and IM have already made inroads into MNOs’ turf. eSIMs and Soft SIMs are seen as yet another way to drive a wedge between MNOs and their customers.

Yet, I don’t think it’s as simple or gloomy as that. One interesting outcome once eSIMs and Soft SIMs become mainstream could be that mobile subscribers would be able to access mobile networks in a similar way as public Wi-Fi, choosing connectivity from a menu showing different tariffs and signal strengths. This would open up competition in the market in a whole new, much more dynamic, way.

Truly borderless mobility

Imagine you are on a round-the-world trip of a lifetime – starting from the US East Coast, stopping in the UK, then venturing down to South Africa, moving on to discover the Asia Pacific region, and then flying back to Europe before returning home to the US. Currently, most of us would buy local SIM cards when travelling – they are cost effective and offer good network connectivity. The issue is that a device may be locked for a specific MNO’s SIM – and it’s a pain having to buy a new SIM the moment you step off the plane in a new country.

Now, global Wi-Fi hotspot devices can make all this a lot less painful. They allow people to stay connected while roaming, without the hassle of changing SIM cards or fearing bill shock due to high roaming charges. And, when a Wi-Fi hotspot device is equipped with our Tata Communications – MOVE IoT Connect, travellers are able to tap into truly borderless connectivity the moment they take their Wi-Fi hotspot device out of the box. Our relationships with 600 MNOs globally enable this, ensuring consistent connectivity and a high-quality user experience for travellers worldwide.

In the second part of this blog post, I will look at the role of eSIMs and Soft SIMs in the Internet of Things, and enabling everything to become instantly and seamlessly connected.

Read more about re-imagining mobile networks to unleash the true power of IoT.

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Forrester Research has found that 95% of customers use more than one channel to communicate with organisations. They don’t just want one option for their queries or feedback, they want to be able to get in touch any way that suits them – whether that be voice, video, chat, email or social media.

The organisations that are rising to this challenge effectively are using cloud technologies to deliver seamless communication across every channel. That doesn’t just lead to an enhanced customer experience, it can also transform performance on an ongoing basis, as the data their contact centres harvest leads to ever better understanding and precision.

Analytics will change everything

With an intelligent contact centre, organisations can use analytics tools to understand customers individually, building up a full picture of their needs and desires. The results could transform customer service. For example, a credit union discovered an issue with their ATM policy when searching for calls in which the customer asked to speak to a supervisor. As a result, they adjusted the policy and recouped over a billion dollars in lost revenue.

Research conducted by contact centre solutions experts, Calabrio, shows that 34% of contact centre agents feel the lack of customer data available to them at the time of a customer’s request means they’re unable to fully deal with their query. But with access to better data and support, agents can handle requests efficiently and keep customers satisfied.

Analytics solutions can also help contact centres increase operational efficiency by identifying trends and bottlenecks – from lethargic systems to cumbersome processes. Managers can then seize opportunities to streamline workflows and extract insights that drive better, faster service.

Yet many organisations are dragging their feet. Currently, the average contact centre only analyses two percent of all customer interaction data. Traditional contact centre metrics are limited to average handling time and script adherence, neither of which accurately reflects the quality of the customer service provided. By harnessing modern analytics, a contact centre can put those metrics into perspective by combining them with customer evaluation scores. Add that to an analytics solution that integrates performance with sales and marketing systems, and an organisation will be able to see the real impact of improved customer service on the bottom line.

Intelligence in the data centre can also help to mitigate risk. Advanced speech analytics can enable managers to pick up on any high-risk words being used by agents. They can then quickly address these issues to minimise any risk of regulatory fines or litigation.

Advanced, multi-channel ‘voice of the customer’ analytics will also enable agents to deliver a predictive and proactive service, which could help to resolve issues quicker and bring down service costs. The impact on any business is compelling – the Aberdeen Group has found that deploying an analytics solution that integrates with sales CRM and other systems can lead to an average of 32% revenue growth.

So where to next?

Before analytics and intelligent reporting can truly transform the contact centre, there needs to be a shift in thinking. Many of today’s data centres are siloed, with specific purposes or business units managed as separate areas rather than collectively. This fractured approach hinders any opportunity for optimisation.

The contact centre of tomorrow will be configured differently, with artificial intelligence and machine learning enabling the data centre to assess performance and optimise delivery. As George Weiss, Gartner vice president says: “The goal should be to architect platforms and services that monitor and analyse system behaviours, resulting in continually optimised outcomes to predefined goals and service levels.”

Smarter management

Workforce management (WFM) will also play a key role, as contact centres move to more efficient ways of planning the workload. Manual management of staffing is time-intensive and can often miss the complexities of a multi-channel environment. But with WFM in place, managers can run forecasts and schedules more frequently to create greater accuracy.

A good WFM solution also enables the automation of key tasks, while delivering improved reporting and analysis to give managers a full view of the workload and address any concerns. Managers can then report any insights back to agents to help them deliver a consistent and outstanding customer experience every time.

Get personal with your contact centre

Contact centres are already moving beyond an integrated service, offering a multichannel experience to customers, and are now developing true omnichannel experiences with anytime, anywhere access across to any device. It’s time to move to a new model for the contact centre, where customers can contact you via any medium, and where you harness data to enable end-to-end performance management and an enhanced customer experience.

Find out more about the intelligent contact centre from our whitepaper contact centre for the digital age.

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Paving the way for truly borderless connectivity

Enhanced commercial vehicle fleet management; improved agricultural production; better connected supply chains; more efficient factories. Fulfilling the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) is now a key element in digital transformation programmes for enterprises. In fact, across sectors there’s a growing ambition to leverage innovative uses of IoT – not just for operational efficiencies, greater customer engagement and improved business intelligence, but for new services and disruptive commercial models too.

Arguably, mobile services provide a catalyst for globalisation. They enable enterprises to operate beyond the constraints of national borders, and address the needs of an international customer base. That’s why in today’s data-powered economy, for most multi-national enterprises, the idea of truly borderless operations is central to their IoT objectives. The aim is that remote IoT devices, with connectivity and data managed over a secure, global mobile network, can connect and interact seamlessly, regardless of location.

In industries such as oil and gas exploration or agriculture, globally connected equipment can provide valuable insights into operations, customers and partners – whether in the same location or thousands of miles away. It can lead to new efficiencies or, through new applications of data, help organisations to rethink their business models.

Re-thinking cellular networks for the IoT age

The increasing and strategically important role of IoT creates a need for traditional mobile service delivery conventions to evolve rapidly. So, in response to more global, connectivity demands, enterprises require solutions that deliver pervasive connectivity, to capture, move and manage information on a global scale, to ensure the success of IoT projects.

Cellular networks offer an effective, reliable, secure and ubiquitous connectivity solution – acting as the foundation for many IoT projects. However, the challenge is that today’s mobile networks are licensed and deployed at a country-by-country level. Mobile network operators (MNOs) control all aspects of their own network: the architecture, deployment, capacity, investment and – crucially with enterprise mobility – how devices such as smartphones and laptops connect to it.

There is no such concept as a single, global mobile network. Yet, as IoT dramatically expands the number and scope of connected devices, this is exactly what enterprises need. The traditional connectivity model no longer delivers the kind of flexibility and autonomy that managing multi-country IoT projects require. So to give enterprises real-time control over their growing number of devices, SIM cards and connections, they should be able to manage policies, analyse information, make updates and change device parameters themselves. Relying on a single MNO as gatekeeper for thousands or hundreds of thousands of devices is neither desirable, nor efficient.

As enterprise mobile networking evolves, completely new opportunities emerge. One that is potentially hugely valuable is for an enterprise itself to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It’s not as far-fetched as it might sound, given that IoT management requirements already align closely with the MVNO model. Enterprises who manage IoT programmes are already becoming experts in SIM provisioning, mobile device management and wireless revenue management – all key responsibilities of an MVNO. In fact, the right virtualised mobile network could be almost entirely self-managing and an extension of an enterprise’s own back-office systems – giving the CIO more control than ever over all mobile and IoT assets.

Holding enterprises hostage must stop

As IoT gathers pace, cellular connectivity has to be defined at a global, rather than national level. IoT devices should simply connect to the most appropriate network, based on network availability and quality. Enterprises can’t be held hostage to the constraints associated with MNOs roaming agreements anymore. This means putting an end to network lock-in based on MNO roaming policies and preferred partnerships.

A truly global approach to cellular networking should also consider enterprises’ varying connectivity requirements. In remote locations with patchy coverage, applications should be able to switch between different networks seamlessly to avoid loss of connectivity. In the logistics industry, businesses choose the most cost-effective route or method of transportation across multiple locations and countries – in the same way, enterprises must be able to define their own means for IoT connectivity, based on parameters that are important to them.

In forward-looking enterprises, IoT forms part of an organisation-wide digital transformation programme. From a connectivity perspective, this means that mobile device and SIM management needs to integrate with existing enterprise systems. Through complete integration with ERP, CRM and other core applications, IoT will provide enterprises with more relevant insights and maximum return-on-investment. Given that an enterprise might manage up to millions of different connected devices, this type of integration can only be accomplished with automation. APIs play a key role in making this painless and efficient.

Born connected

Over the next decade, multi-national enterprises will embrace IoT applications across all aspects of their operations, to help capture, move and manage information efficiently – while also increasingly defining the type of connectivity solutions that underpin them. Local MNOs might no longer be best-placed to address the connectivity needs of enterprises’ cross-border IoT applications. This will lead to a fundamental shift in cellular communications worldwide, as virtualised, truly global mobile networks that don’t rely on old industry conventions start to gather momentum.

At last year’s Mobile World Congress, we laid out our vision for a world where anything could be ‘born connected’ – straight out of the box, with instant, seamless access to the Internet. But, for this to properly happen, all these things must also operate efficiently, reliably and securely, anywhere in the world. Only through rethinking cellular connectivity models will enterprises be able to make the most of the transformational impact of IoT today and in the future.

Read one of our previous blogs on IoT and why enterprises shouldn’t hold back.

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We have been witnessing technological innovations since the beginning of the 21st century. However, if you thought the past 10 years were disruptive, the biggest transformation is yet to come – especially in the form of employee mobility. Various researches have proved that mobility increases employee satisfaction, and subsequently improves their productivity. It is estimated that by 2022, 42.5% of the global workforce will be mobile.

Employees will be able to work anytime, anywhere, and can use their smart devices for work as much as they use it for leisure. Blue-sky thinking? It’s already happening and smartphones with a network connection or a device that is connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) is the go-to implement for this ‘mobile-first’ workforce.

So how will this mobile workforce shape in the new digital platform economy?

Supply isn’t satisfying the demand

With mobility, suddenly employees are liberated from being tied to a physical workplace. Enterprises now have their own social media space, using functionalities such as crowd-sourcing and the shared economy to create new ways of working.

To meet the needs of this rapidly mobilising workforce, CIOs must focus on a mobile platform approach that enables access to a multitude of corporate applications in real time via mobile, irrespective of the location or network.

Yet communications service providers (CSPs) are lagging behind. Although there are about 900 network based mobile CSPs, there is a reticence to expose networks and services to access via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Existing and emerging enterprises are now hungry for that exposure. They want to use that capacity to mobilise their workforce and open up access to a vast range of rich mobile services on a global scale.

There is a way forward

The next step then is to move on from simplistic mobile services – where end users simply send a message or make a call – to something much more sophisticated.

If service providers are prepared to offer more advanced mobile network services, then it’s win-win for buyers as well as sellers. Enterprises will see a significant shift in what’s possible via mobile – be it richer unified communications and collaboration experiences or easy access to cloud-enabled services. Meanwhile, the new business models and services that are created, can give rise to billions of dollars of added value for the mobile industry.

To get there is going to require another shift in thinking, where employers and employees start seeing mobility in the same way they view the worldwide web or cloud today. All apps, content and services should be accessible via mobile, irrespective of location and without the high cost of data roaming.

As the world moves towards 5G, we will see new models being adopted by mobile communications service providers. Mobile services can be delivered in a way that reflects how the worldwide web is constituted – offering a consistent, seamless experience and on a global basis.

The time to deliver is now

Ericsson forecasts that by 2022, we can expect 6.8 billion smartphones subscriptions around the world along with 29 billion connected devices.

Mobile services need to start delivering to this vast market now. And CIOs need to know that they can rely on programmable, borderless mobile services without any of the cost, security or access constraints they face today. The mobile communications platform of the future can serve as an innovation engine for next-generation mobile services, while acting as a powerful new revenue stream for mobile network operators.

Look out for my next blog during MWC, but in the meantime read one of my previous blogs on mobilising the platform economy.

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We often think of consumer devices such as smart TVs, wearables and connected home appliances, but where the IoT has already flourished is in the industrial sector through applications such as predictive maintenance and smart energy distribution.

According to a Plant Maintenance Study from 2016, 51% of manufacturing plants now use a computerised maintenance management system, and data from a range of sources suggests that businesses can save between 10-20% using predictive maintenance.

It is expected that globally there will be over 20 billion connected devices in use by 2020. For enterprises, this presents a huge opportunity. Harnessing the insights gained from IoT means businesses can make their operations more efficient as well as develop new revenue streams.

Despite the potential benefits, the adoption of enterprise IoT has been steady, even underwhelming given its massive potential. It is estimated that through 2018, nearly three in four IoT projects will take up to twice as long as planned.

What’s holding enterprises back?

The answer is simple. Game-changing innovation is often followed by a fragmented market place, as pioneers develop new applications and follow their own rules.

In the early days of the World Wide Web, competition for dominance of programs such as browsers, music sharing and messenger services was frenetic. Eventually, the players with the most scalable business models and agile innovation cultures prevail as the giants of new world. The phenomenon of IoT is unlikely to be any different.

Right now, though, enterprises are confronted by a bewildering array of service providers, technologies and platforms. There are no standard best practices for connecting multiple end-points – whether that’s devices or people. And the movement to cloud-based, mobile-first strategies that optimise connectivity with customers, employees and assets worldwide has added layers of complexity.

Each technology comes with different standards and can be applied to different applications, creating technical and application silos. It adds up to a landscape that’s both difficult and time-consuming to navigate. Indeed, Forrester indicates that design teams can search through more than 19 new wireless connectivity choices and protocols to support a company’s IoT projects.

The fragmentation of standards and protocols combined with the overwhelming number of products and partners to choose from decelerates adoption. An Economist Intelligence Unit study found that over 50% of senior business leaders said progress with the IoT had not been as fast as they had expected.

Too many apps, not enough communication

So what are the implications of this fragmentation for the end user? Let’s take an example. You’re getting ready to attend a scheduled meeting and you’re planning to drive their using your phone’s GPS for navigation. You’re also going to use an app to find the nearest parking space. Currently Google Maps tells you the expected journey time, but not where the nearby parking spaces are. Your parking app can tell you where to park, but not how long the journey will take you.

In other words, you need multiple apps to get the information you need. Even then, it’s incomplete: you’re going to have to work out yourself how much time you’ll need to park the car and get to your meeting on time.

For enterprises to truly embrace IoT, platforms and technologies need to converge and become more coherent. And that’s precisely what’s starting to happen.

A new paradigm spells new opportunity

We’re seeing this as the advent of the age where devices are ‘born connected’. With greater cooperation amongst different ecosystem players (equipment & device manufacturers, connectivity providers, platform & software solution providers), an IoT device can more quickly start collecting and transporting data.  Even more so, as devices communicate beyond their initial enterprise closed-loop system, the exponential value of IoT will be unleashed. Remember that meeting you wanted to get to on time? Imagine having an app that could tell you what you really need to know – which is that it’s going to take 20 minutes to drive there, but since the parking space is another 10 minutes away and you will take 10 more minutes to reach the meeting room, you’d better leave now.

The industry is already beginning to reshape itself to make this happen. Mobile network operators are now willing to forgo being the main service contractor and provider.

Instead, they’re choosing to partner with IoT platform providers and third party system integrators, to realise their own IoT strategies. The result is the emergence of more connected networks delivering more satisfying results.

If you’re in the automotive industry, you’ll be able to deliver a borderless, unrestricted and connected car experience, anywhere across the globe. Transport and logistics companies can realise new cost efficiencies. Drivers will be able to stay connected to their company network, wherever they are – and the same goes for airline crews.

Building connectivity into aircraft will enable diagnostics and servicing, and even go as far as identifying potential problems with an aircraft before it creates operational issues.

Thanks to a growing convergence of digital technology platforms and capabilities, we’re moving towards a ‘one-stop shop’ for the IoT needs of enterprises – one that’s accessible in both developed and developing markets. Enterprises, take note: the Internet of Things is finally coming of age.

Read one of my previous blogs on how IoT is transforming the healthcare industry.

The post Taking the brakes off the Internet of Things appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

1. World-class customer experiences

The IoT doesn’t just let travel companies give customers a seamless experience. All partners in the supply chain can get involved too. Imagine an integrated travel package, involving airlines, ground transportation, hotels, insurance companies, all linked for a seamless end customer experience. The IoT removes the manual intervention to make a seamless experience both possible and considerably more efficient.

Let’s take the example of a baggage handling team at a busy airport: give them the ability to access real-time information about missing luggage, and they will be able to operate more efficiently, while also introducing transparency into the delivery chain. In addition to supporting this key partner, the business will also be helping to enhance customer engagement and loyalty.

To make a success of an integrated supply chain, organisations need to provide a consistent experience across different channels and platforms, adopt a connected communications system to avoid information silos, and have the ability to scale solutions as demand fluctuates. Critical for all of this is to invest in an IT infrastructure that supports these new services and capabilities.

2. Getting rid of the risk

As businesses invest in digital business services, they also potentially increase their exposure to malicious hacking and cyber-crime. Addressing potential security vulnerabilities is crucial to ensure that a digital transformation programme won’t expose the business or its commercial supply chain partners to security threats.

Minimising risk isn’t just about securing data and applications against external threats. It is also critical to ensure service continuity and near-zero business disruption to avoid disruption to customers’ travel arrangements.

Sound risky? It’s not as risky as avoiding the digital transformation altogether – and being left behind. In terms of device and cloud connectivity, businesses need to access the IoT data over a secure, private network and ensure effective asset and policy control. Robust security services will protect the business from a range of cyber threats, but a secure mobile connectivity environment provides an extra layer of security for data to keep travellers and reputations safe.

A journey to somewhere new

To expand into new markets and across borders, travel companies need to take a global view, where a global network infrastructure, with global connectivity options becomes an integral foundation for a digital transformation programme. For those organisations equipped with the right tools and support from technology partners, the opportunities to enhance their business and gain global market share are significant. Manage the associated business risks well, and those opportunities could be outstanding. Deploying IoT as part of a global digital transformation strategy can optimise productivity, maximise efficiency and enhance the customer experience. Now that’s a trip worth taking.

Read one of my previous blogs on how the Internet of Things is changing the healthcare industry.

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Arguably, technology has already revolutionised the travel sector. Consumers are used to checking algorithm-based curated websites and apps to make their travel decisions. And, checking in for a flight online or using electronic travel documentation is already second nature.

As the IoT has the potential to change the travel market again, businesses need to embrace a strategic approach to their own digital transformation. That means understanding what the opportunities are, and how to capitalise on them while also protecting the business from risk. In part one, of this blog, we’ll take a take a look at two out of the four key things that are going to usher in this next evolution.

1. Growth across borders

It goes without saying that the travel industry is global, so the infrastructure that supports it needs to be global too. To identify and achieve successful digital transformation, the industry will require best-in-class global infrastructure and information tools.

Getting the right connectivity services up and running is particularly important. Looking at the IoT and airlines, for example – one of its biggest benefits is that it brings visibility to areas that might otherwise be in darkness. Yet, in order to maximise visibility, airlines need a very reliable network infrastructure to act as the foundation for and underpin a huge range of IoT-enabled sensors and devices, connecting the aircraft itself, as well as baggage tags and everything in between.

Furthermore, to move into new geographies, travel businesses need to focus on new technology, competitive new services and the right business models to generate incremental revenue. That means having connectivity services that deliver not just on a domestic basis, but on an international one.

But to do this, a business could end up having to negotiate with hundreds of mobile communications service providers to enable mobile access for IoT services in each country. For most businesses, this is simply not viable. The better alternative is to contract with a single provider that’s able to negotiate all the access agreements, provide end-to-end mobile and cloud connectivity, and data management services. This approach ensures cross-border connectivity, without the headache.

2. More productive, more efficient flight crews and stress-free travel for customers

It seems almost incredible to think that in this digital age, many flight crews still rely on hard copies of passenger manifests and other mission critical documents day to day. This creates not only inefficiencies, but also leaves room for human error. Something as simple as a tablet, connected to central airline and airport IT systems, could eliminate the need for binders full of print-outs, and provide flight crews with the most up-to-date policies, procedures and alerts, making the flight experience smoother for passengers too.

But that’s just the start. Travel companies are already using the power of big data to create ultra-personalised experiences, analysing traveller data across preference, social behaviour and buying patterns. By harnessing the power of the IoT, hotels are able to make their rooms ‘smart’ by enabling guests to adjust the temperature, lighting and even entertainment based on their personal preferences before they even check in.

There are travel businesses already taking the technology and running with it, both simplifying and enriching the travel experience to make truly personalised offers to their customers. And, this mind-set is winning business and generating revenue. One medium sized hospitality company recently leveraged big data to achieve 50% more repeat visits and a 15% shift to direct bookings. Organisations across the world are beginning to offer seamless, multi-platform collaboration to employees, partners and customers – and they’re reaping the rewards.

Similarly, airlines can incur huge costs from time delays or unplanned maintenance. In fact, it’s estimated that just two hours of unplanned maintenance on the tarmac can cost an airline as much as US$150,000. These delays can hit margins hard and damage customer satisfaction. So it’s perhaps no surprise that aviation companies are taking action – using technology to help manage predictive maintenance and avoid breakdowns and technical delays.

From travel companies to airlines, IoT technologies can help businesses with their strategic approach to digital transformation, capitalising on future opportunities whilst mitigating risk. In part two of this blog I’ll look at two other key areas where IoT can make a difference to travel travel industry.

Read one of my previous blogs on how IoT can help transform  logistics and fleet management.

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In fact, in my two decades in the voice industry, I’ve never seen a market that is more dynamic and that is more wide open and full of possibilities. In the old days of voice, there was only so much you could do with a voice minute. Today, it feels like voice can be a part of any application or any service imaginable. This is why I see three big opportunities really defining the market in 2018:

• Evolving traditional voice – Offering a comprehensive suite of solutions and a depth of expertise is more important than geographic reach. Wholesale voice providers should evolve their businesses to focus on enabling profitability and solving challenges. Today’s customers want consultancy and support rather than just A to B connectivity. It is mind set shift, but one that creates long-term customers that depend on not just destinations but fraud solutions, routing engines and a whole platform of solutions focused on profitability.
• Enabling UCC – Service provider customers need to differentiate their UCC offerings to compete. With the right wholesale partner, they can add capabilities and benefit from deep voice expertise. Partners can help to build their footprint globally while also enabling the integration of multiple UCC platforms into their offering. Service providers can also lean on their partners to create new efficiencies and help them to terminate traffic outside of their UCC clouds. Wholesale can be the key to removing the limits on their voice offerings.
• Preparing for the future – There are growing opportunities in supporting roaming for voice over LTE (VoLTE), Machine-to-Machine Communications (M2M) and the Internet of Things (IoT). These technologies have been evolving slowly on a local level but will eventually have applications that demand fully integrated and seamless roaming environments. From connected cars through to international artificial intelligence platforms, voice players with experience in global roaming will be able to support limitless communications. At the same time, we are seeing calling and messaging being incorporated into an infinite number of applications and services. Today, voice services can be part of any solution and often need termination on the PSTN.

While the word “wholesale” is out of fashion in carrier business, it still underpins global communications, and expertise in wholesale is essential for enabling new services. Expertise in voice is still in demand although business models are changing. In 2018, the voice players who will be successful will need to continually evolve their strategies to adapt to the new business models.

Christian Michaud will be representing both Tata Communications and i3forum at Capacity Asia. He will be moderating the panel “Next Steps for IPX: VoLTE and RCS and Beyond” at i3forum’s conference on 13th December.

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It is also a key ingredient in many applications, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data analytics, which businesses are using to drive digital transformation in all their operations.

Yet, in today’s cloud-first age – where anywhere, anytime access to data and applications is a must –the shortcomings of an enterprise network can become rapidly exposed. Simply put, a traditional private WAN is too inflexible and expensive for the cloud, while the public Internet can’t meet businesses’ demands for secure, reliable performance.

That is why more and more of our customers are adopting hybrid networks, which give them the best of both worlds – the reliability and security of a private network, with the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public Internet.

But it doesn’t stop there. Many businesses are also opting to work with specialist connectivity providers to ensure a more predictable network performance when accessing major clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, Alibaba Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Salesforce.

Enterprises have become accustomed to using these cloud services ‘pay-as-you-go’, without upfront investment – and recently they’ve started to expect that same flexibility from their network services too: no-strings-attached.

A couple of examples of our customers that have reaped the benefits of rethinking their network set-up for the cloud are Client Instant Access, a major provider of conferencing, dialling and messaging services, and Cognizant, a US-based, Nasdaq-listed IT services business.

Client Instant Access was seeing a surge in demand for its products and services worldwide, but its growth was being held back by a complex mix of point-to-point TDM circuits and physical servers in inflexible data centres. To boost the agility of the business, the company adopted IZO Private Connect for its voice services, with virtual servers in the AWS cloud. Adopting AWS and IZO Private Connect has not only reduced costs for Client Instant Access by eliminating the need to maintain physical servers and data centres – it has also given the company unprecedented ability to scale to meet customer demand in virtually any timescale. The numbers speak for themselves: Client Instant Access saw an almost 20% increase in usage in the quarter following the deployment, thanks to an enhanced customer experience. Furthermore, the company now needs to spend a lot less time on troubleshooting issues, allowing it to focus its efforts on adding value for its customers instead.

Like many of our customers, Cognizant faced the challenge of striking the right balance between offering its clients a speedy, secure and reliable user experience while at the same time minimising operating costs and increasing resource efficiency. That’s why the global IT services provider decided to stop using the public Internet to access AWS cloud and adopt IZO Private Connect instead. This move has lowered the total cost of ownership for Cognizant, boosting resource efficiency. Crucially, it ensures that the company’s clients can use AWS with the peace of mind that a robust, secure and scalable network infrastructure brings.

Words like ‘secure’, ‘reliable’, ‘scalable’, ‘high-speed’ and ‘high-performance’ are perhaps over-used in our industry, leading to scepticism amongst CIOs. To make it easier for them to determine whether a network services provider’s offering does what it says on the tin, AWS recently introduced a new competency framework for its networking partners.

We’re delighted to be one of only a handful of companies in the world that has been able to meet AWS’ criteria, and become an inaugural AWS Networking Competency Launch Partner. And, we’re committed to continuing to invest in our networking capabilities to be able to support our customers’ digital transformation through the cloud.

Learn more about how to build a cloud-ready global network for your business.

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More and more traffic

Today, the Internet and technologies that depend on it – from cloud computing to unified communications and virtual reality to smart home hubs –permeate all aspects of our lives. So, it’s perhaps unsurprising that we have seen an increase in SSL traffic which became the largest traffic type in 2017 vs HTTP was the largest traffic in 2016.

Video is the biggest bandwidth hog of all due to the popularity of applications such as Skype for Business and streaming services such as Netflix. Furthermore, there is a seismic shift happening behind the scenes of the media industry: a move away from traditional cable and satellite broadcasting to cloud and IP-based content distribution. Earlier this year, for example, we announced that VICE Media will use Tata Communications’ network in this way.

To put the continued growth of video traffic into perspective, Cisco predicts that it would take an individual more than 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2020.

At the other end of the scale, while individual Internet of Things applications don’t require a lot of bandwidth, the sheer volume of these devices will drive Internet traffic growth too. As more and more smart things are developed, and previously ‘dumb’ things such as clothing, personal electronics, factory equipment and energy networks get connected to the Internet, traffic will grow inexorably.

The rise of Instant-Messaging  

Of course the way we keep in touch is being transformed by the Internet too. Given how deeply ingrained the simple SMS used to be in people’s lives, it’s interesting to see how quickly the world has embraced Internet messaging apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat. IM traffic on our network is still rising at pace at 3x YoY when we look at our network trends over the past four years.

However, because the vast majority of content shared on IM is low-bandwidth text – though of course people share a lot of images and videos on the platform too – it actually represents a very small percentage of overall traffic on our network.

That being said, the incredible growth of IM traffic over the last few years clearly suggests that instant messaging apps like this will play an increasingly important role in our lives. WeChat has over 900 million users today, and while it started out as a messaging app, it is now a complete Internet platform, where users can manage more or less every aspect of their lives – including shop, pay bills, book taxis, buy tickets for the cinema and make medical appointments, and collaborate in the workplace too.

While this growth is enabling some fantastic innovations across the globe, there is a growing realisation that security needs to be at the heart of everything we do.

In part two of this series, we look at how the rise of Internet-enabled everything is leading to some interesting security trends.

Read a previous blog on the next steps that need to take place to ensure Brazil’s long term economic recovery.

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Better partner and customer engagement

Creating a great IoT customer experience is not just for B2C companies and end customers. It is important at all stages of the supply chain, both for B2B and B2C services

Let’s imagine a supervisor of the goods-in team at a busy factory that has adopted lean manufacturing and Just-in-Time delivery. In this context, having access to accurate deliveries information is paramount. IoT can improve their experience – and efficiency – by providing real-time access to delivery information easily and intuitively. It’s all about building omni-channel transparency through the delivery chain while enhancing engagement, awareness and loyalty for all parties and partners.

To make a success of an integrated supply chain, transport, logistics and fleet management companies need to provide a consistent experience across different channels and platforms, adopt a connected communications system to avoid information silos, and have the ability to scale solutions as demand fluctuates. Critical for all of this is to invest in a secure IT infrastructure that supports these new services and capabilities.

Minimise risk, maximise trust

As shown by global cyber-attacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya, any business needs an effective risk strategy to safeguard data and applications from potential threats, wherever that business is on its digital transformation journey. Additionally, it’s crucial to ensure service continuity and near-zero business disruption in the event of a security breach. That is why transport, logistics and fleet management companies need to adopt an adaptive security strategy. This means shifting from an ‘incident response’ mind set to a ‘continuous response’ mind set. Typically, there are four stages in an adaptive security life cycle: preventative, detective, retrospective and predictive. Preventative security is all about blocking attacks before they affect the organisation or make it more difficult for an attacker to wreak havoc, giving the organisation more time to disable the attack in process. The aim of the detective security layer is to reduce the time that attackers spends within the system, limiting the subsequent damage. Retrospective security is like a vaccine that protects you against diseases – it turns intelligence about past attacks into future protection. Predictive security plugs into the external network of threats, monitoring hackers underground to proactively anticipate new attack types.

When it comes to safe device and cloud connectivity, requirements range from ensuring access to IoT data is kept secure over a private network to asset monitoring and effective policy controls. And, while plenty of robust security services are available to safeguard businesses from cyber threats, the added assurance of a secure mobile connectivity environment ensures greater protection for data – and greater peace of mind.

Gear up for growth

In addition to opening up new growth opportunities in all areas of transport, logistics and fleet management, deploying IoT as part of a digital transformation initiative can boost productivity, efficiency and competitive advantage. It offers partners and customers a better experience, while creating more innovative ways to do business.

If adopting new technologies sounds risky at this point, it’s important to remember that ultimately, the adoption of any new technology brings a degree of uncertainty and risk. Introducing IoT is no exception. But any concerns should be balanced against the potential benefits, not to mention the greater risk of holding back, while agile disruptors set the pace as digital transformation continues to gather speed in transport, logistics and fleet management.

Read one of our previous blogs on IoT and the smart city.

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India is one of the world’s youngest countries, with 65% of its population sitting within the working age group. Globally, this puts India at a significant advantage, as it is estimated that over a quarter of the people joining the world’s workforce by 2025 will be Indian. Given the right infrastructure and opportunity, economists have suggested that India’s youth could add a projected 2% to its current GDP growth rate.

Many of these young people are flocking to India’s cities in search of economic opportunity and a better life. The challenge is that with such rapid population growth, India’s cities must be ready to nurture a booming urban workforce.

The good news is that the government has mobilised to tackle the issue. Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been consciously trying to project a more positive view of urban living. ‘Smart cities’ was a key narrative during his election campaign and the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ has become one of India’s flagship policies. As well as optimising city living for its inhabitants, the transformation is designed to attract external investment from a number of different sources, including the private sector, entrepreneurs, developers and the public. This will be crucial to supporting India’s smart city initiative.

This, coupled with advancements in affordability and scalability of internet of things (IoT) networks, has created a golden opportunity for India to redesign its cities, reframing them in the cultural narrative as social and economic hubs that will nurture their young workforce. IoT can do far more than simply allow you to switch your heating on remotely. India’s smart cities project is all about how IoT can revolutionise city infrastructure to create economic opportunity.

One example is water quality. In India, coverage through piped water supply in urban areas ranges between 55% and 89%, with some cities suffering from poor infrastructure. Smart Water Networks (SWN) in smart cities are helping to combat this issue, using real-time data to anticipate and react to different issues, from leaks, to theft, to water quality incidents. Improving water quality has a knock-on effect on public health, and enabling cities to react quicker to incidents reduces costly wastage.

Culturally, another big issue being tackled in smart cities is safety. Governments now have technology at their fingertips to use predictive crime analytics and video management systems to target crime hot spots. This gives the authorities more resources to predict and prevent crimes, ultimately driving down the crime rate and improve the overall safety of their cities.

The future success of urban living in India depends on making its cities ‘smart,’ and we are at a perfect inflection point for realising this vision on a huge scale, but it still needs significant investment.

The government’s smart city initiative is a substantial step in the right direction, but the adoption of smart cities is a gradual process, and if the government wants it to be in full, optimised operation by 2025, it will come with a hefty price tag. According to Deloitte, Modi’s government will need an estimated $150 billion in order to realise its vision – and $120 billion of this investment must come from the private sector. In order to take its place as a country of the 21^st Century, the government must court the private sector, and more investment must be made in the technologies that will enable the level of innovation required to transform India’s cities at the pace that its citizens need.

Read one of our previous blogs on smart city solutions.

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As is often the case, with disruption comes competition – and we’re seeing new entrants disrupt the transport, logistics and fleet management industries with the introduction of new, more customer-centric business models. Given this changing landscape, it shouldn’t be a question of whether these organisations should embrace digital transformation, but how. We’ve identified four ways for transport, logistics and fleet management companies to make the most of technologies such as IoT to revolutionise their business and make it fit for a digital future. In part 1 of this blog, I’ll talk about the first two.

Business without borders

To fast-track global growth and ensure sustainable cross-border expansion, businesses need the right strategy combined with best-in-class global infrastructure and information tools. In transport, logistics and fleet management, transparency and real-time availability of information is an absolute must. That is why a key priority is mobile connectivity services that can be relied on – wherever in the world the business might expand to. Consistent asset tracking, maintenance data and driver efficiency management, for example, require reliable mobile access for IoT services in each country.

Connectivity alone, however, is of limited value without a full platform management approach, including SIM provisioning, APIs, device management, security, cloud access and data analytics. Only with these end-to-end services in place will a business be all set to accelerate into new markets and geographies. Even better, this foundation puts transport, logistics and fleet management companies in a better position to innovate with new technologies, competitive new services and best-fit business models to generate extra revenue.

Given the setup complexity that global mobile services can bring, this significant challenge is best handled by a single partner who can provide access to global mobile networks and connectivity agreements with multiple network operators – saving the business admin time and hassle.

Enhanced productivity and efficiency

Using digital and IoT can enable seamless, continuous multi-platform collaboration and pave the way to greater efficiency and productivity gains for transport, logistics and fleet management companies.

Take the case of driver downtime – distance and time overruns can cause huge costs for firms. In the US, for example, it’s reported that large logistics firms can lose up to US$515,000 per minute due to idle time for each driver. Avoidable delays in routing and loading can also hit margins hard – and the ever-increasing complexity of supply chain management is turning the pressure up even higher.

Just consider how much more efficient and productive any business can be when employees, partners and customers collaborate seamlessly across platforms, with ubiquitous access to data and applications. So, it’s no wonder these companies are looking to embed more effective IoT connectivity into their supply chain management processes.

When thinking about the future of your logistics or fleet management business, IoT connectivity could pave the way for sustainable growth and greater productivity. In part two of this blog, I will discuss the ways in which IoT can enhance customer experience, and a the considerations needed when thinking about cyber-security.

Read one of my previous blogs on how the Internet of Things is transforming the healthcare industry.

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Ecosystems to enhance quality of life in cities

Smart city projects focus on delivering sustainable development of the economy, promoting citizen engagement, driving technological innovation with the context of a citizen friendly environment. Fundamental to this is the building of an ecosystem of partners to fundamentally change and improve the quality of citizens’ daily life.  The smart city is an entity that delivers on these fundamentals – whether it be an economic zone, a city, a city district, a county, or a city group. Smart cities are characterised by how they apply ICT technology toward the improvement of the lives of citizens. Smart cities will also compete to attract industry, enterprises and a skilled workforce by offering flexible government, citizen safety and public-sector efficiency.

Early efforts around smart cities focused on IoT projects to deliver individual use cases. Although the independent use cases were successful, they lacked inter-connection and thus failed to realise the promise of a mature smart city environment. Later attempts started at the architecture design stage and then focused on data sharing as a means toward realizing the delivery of operational and service platforms. These platforms (and the fundamental means of connectivity between them) improved information sharing and collaboration between the different departments within city governments.

Interconnected platforms – foundations of smart cities

Smart city frameworks are founded upon scalable, interconnected platforms, many of which live within public sector cloud or hybrid IT platforms. Many cities in mature and emerging markets have invested on cloud, network and security as the fundamental cornerstones of city connectivity. Enhancements to Wi-Fi, mobile and fixed broadband networks along with the introduction of low power WAN solutions are all designed to create environments conducive to IOT use cases. Network technology like LoRaWAN and Sigfox, along with narrowband IoT have been implemented across markets ranging from China, to India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Similarly, investments in national broadband projects have placed markets like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and key cities in China and India on par with worldwide performance and availability.

Key use cases for consideration within a smart city framework include public safety and emergency response, traffic management, smart lighting, parking and waste management along with preventive and remote health, smart utility, security and surveillance within the context of smart homes and buildings. Based on IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide (May 2017), spending on these use cases across emerging countries in Asia Pacific (including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Rest of Asia Pacific, Thailand, Vietnam) will reach USD$7.9 billion by 2021.

Barriers to smart cities success

In reviewing key markets within Asia Pacific, IDC’s 2017 IoT Global Decision Maker survey has found that the major obstacles to implementing smart city solutions include security concerns, lack of internal skills and concerns around the technology stability and maturity. The journey toward smart for a city is an expensive proposition and with multiple vendors offering capabilities through software, services and platforms, choosing the right solution which is future proof becomes a major challenge.

The top three benefits anticipated from investing in smart city use cases include:

1. Improvements in productivity and efficiency for municipal employees and citizens
2. Reductions in operational cost of the management of a city
3. Improvements in services provided to citizens.

Recent case studies have shown reductions in city energy costs of over 30% following the introduction of smart lighting, reductions in city council operating costs due to improvement in planned and preventative maintenance and reductions in congestion due to smart parking and improved traffic management. Surveillance, police body cameras and dedicated mobile networks to manage emergency responses have been the subject of numerous case studies with a consistent reporting of reduction in crime rates, improvement of relations between citizen and police forces and more robust emergency response capabilities.

Diverse demands across smart cities worldwide

Smart City projects represent a huge investment in time, money and process transformation. However, these projects also offer solutions to address urban challenges through innovation. These challenges, such as increasing urban density, increasing population, increasing energy consumption, and old infrastructure management, may be unique for each city. There is no one-size-fits-all smart city solution.

All smart city stakeholders need to collaborate with each other and define a long-term strategic objective that will lead to beneficial socio-economic outcomes. They should aim to find a model that meets the high cost of implementation and installation as well as revenue management and information sharing across the whole value chain of each IoT solution.

The data collected from IoT sensors and devices is a valuable resource for both the public and private sectors. Open data for all the stakeholders is a key ingredient for new business and revenue models, which can also be used to increase transparency across public sector departments and increase engagement with citizens. Similarly, the information derived from smart city initiatives must be used for the common good of the citizens and strictly within the spirit and letter of the law on data privacy and citizen data protection.

Read one of our previous blogs on the possibilities of smart cities around the world.

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There are three main areas of discussion which I will address in this blog. The first is the impact of smarter infrastructure and enterprise schemes. The second is connectivity as a utility for the people. Finally, we will look at the impact of connectivity on the wider economy.

Create smart business hubs

To maximise the value of economic centres such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil can look to other nations and cities which have invested in smart infrastructure and established technology-centric business hubs.

A great example of a smart city project from an emerging market that is already underway is in the western state of Gujarat in India. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is looking to attract trillions of dollars of investment as the country’s first fully-fledged smart city, but also a rival for Hong Kong, London, New York City and Singapore as a major global financial services centre. The Bombay Stock Exchange has already set up an international exchange in GIFT, and the data centre and connectivity infrastructure to underpin the smart systems of the city have been deployed.

Moving to Europe, Barcelona is already one of the world’s best connected smart cities, but the Catalan capital is also using technology to encourage commerce and investment. Barcinno, a website dedicated to the tech startup scene in Barcelona, shows that there are dozens of accelerators and incubators throughout Catalunya designed to get fledgling tech businesses off the ground.

As well as startups such as Cl3ver and Trovit, the poster-children of Barcelona’s technology love affair, the Gran Via exhibition centre attracts thousands of delegates each year through global events such as Mobile World Congress (MWC), IoT Solutions World Congress and Smart City Expo. 

Turn on the connectivity tap

In a world where connectivity is akin to running water, technology can be used to connect people to sources of employment, education and support.

One extreme example of this is displayed by the 2017 edition of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Pacific Economy Monitor, which found that connectivity is no longer a luxury in the Pacific but is necessary to economic prosperity.

The report suggests that an estimated 75% of Pacific economies will be connected to submarine cables in the next 2-3 years – with subsea cable projects being developed in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Samoa and Tonga.

These technological advances will change the economic landscape of the Pacific by reducing the limitations posed by physical distance and other geographic obstacles. While Brazil is a huge economy in comparison, as we see in the Pacific, high-speed connectivity can bring in outlier economies which are located away from its urban powerhouses.

Connecting Brazilian business

Brazil boasts a wealth of natural resources and, other than a brief blip in 2015 when it posted a trade deficit, it generally exports more than it imports. This is not true of its biggest trade partner, the USA, with which Brazil has a trade deficit.

Technology plays a vital role in increasing productivity. Brazil’s biggest export is currently soybeans, so we can see examples from other countries where smart technologies have positively impacted agriculture.

In Senegal, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) and its partners have developed seven new high-yielding, early-maturing, drought resistant varieties of sorghum and millet. The Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics has revolutionised agriculture and modern agricultural techniques could future proof Brazil’s soybean industry.

High-speed connections

For more tertiary and city-based industries such as financial services, commercial sectors, media and entertainment services, connectivity is now the lifeblood. Reports show that Brazil’s progress in terms of its technological infrastructure slowed last year.

However, there is an appetite for a technological evolution. In 2016, Brazil borrowed $200m from the World Bank to pour into its transport infrastructure. For high-speed connectivity, there is a massive opportunity for service providers to complement this investment.

A major proponent of this is Seaborn Networks’ with its Seabras-1 subsea cable system, which will connect Brazilian enterprises and service providers to Tata Communications’ global subsea fibre optic cable network, TGN.  Seabras-1 is the most direct route between the business hubs of Sao Paulo and New York, bypassing the congested area around Miami.

Access to Tata Communications’ network connects Brazil to the rest of the world’s major economies, totalling up to around 97% of the global GDP. High-speed connections between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with New York, London and fellow BRIC economies in EMEA and APAC will mark the beginning of a new connected era for Brazil.

This will enable Brazil to develop smarter centres of commerce, connect agriculture and outlier economies and experience better communications with international trading partners. In turn, these steps will pave the way to Brazil fulfilling its potential as a South American economic superpower.

Read one of our previous blogs on the major digital transformation challenges that businesses are facing.

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Along with the move to autonomous vehicles, the vast majority of cars on the road in future will be all-electric or hybrid. Several countries, including the UK and France, have already pledged to phase out petrol and diesel cars in the coming years, but the transition to self-driving cars will take a little longer.

Driverless fleets

While we are starting to see vehicles with semi-autonomous features such as autopilot from car makers like Tesla, the tipping point for self-driving technology will happen when entire fleets of driverless cars become available meaning that cab-hailing firms like Uber and Grab could well lead the way.

However, it will be at least 5-8 years before we see the introduction of autonomous cars at scale, and even then, a period of transition will be required and this is likely to vary dramatically between countries. Some people will still be reluctant to jump into a car without a driver, so an education programme detailing how driverless cars work may also be necessary, along with new legislation surrounding driver responsibility.

Along with the legal and societal implications of driverless cars, the new technology could have also have a major impact on car design, which has remained fairly consistent in recent decades. For example, if a driver isn’t needed, seating configurations could be altered so that all passengers can face each other, while video screens could be fitted to provide entertainment while the car does the driving.

Jaguar recently turned the idea of car ownership on its head with the introduction of an innovative connected steering wheel. The idea is that the individual only owns the smart steering wheel which can be used to summon a variety of different vehicles to their door as part of a membership scheme.

Wiring the car of the future

The technology behind autonomous driving — including AI, big data analytics and IoT network connectivity — will lead to new and disruptive business models as companies evolve to embrace the new opportunities they offer. Companies like Waymo — the self-driving car tech firm which spun out of Google’s parent company Alphabet — will play an important role, as will OEMs, AI specialists and 5G network providers.

IoT connectivity will be the backbone of this transformation, particularly the ability to connect seamlessly to different networks while driving, and to manage network policies that interact with edge and cloud in real time. The design of IT architecture between the network edge and cloud is still emerging and the challenge will be to deliver this at scale, while still localizing the technology for specific regions.

Tata Communications’ MOVE is a global mobility offering that enables borderless mobile experience so that mobile devices be seamlessly connected and managed wherever they are in the world on any mobile operator’s network.

This sort of flexible, controlled, borderless and trans-network connectivity will be vital to the future of autonomous cars and will require cooperation and partnership from players across a vast number of industries as well as policy makers and industry bodies.

Read one of our previous blogs on smart cities with ubiquitous connectivity.

The post Introducing the autonomous vehicle age appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

While this ubiquitous global connectivity enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) opens great possibilities for personal and organisational growth, it also exposes us to security vulnerabilities that can cause financial loss, endanger personal and public safety, and cause varying degrees of damage to business and reputation. Anything that is connected to the Internet is a potential attack surface for cybercriminals.

A new landscape for hackers

IoT brings with it a host of new possibilities, from smart city advancements to transforming how industries produce goods. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has seen significant advancement in recent years, for example by connecting assets in a factory, organisations can have better insight into the health of their machinery, and predict any major problems with their hardware before it happens – allowing them to stay one step ahead of their systems and keep costly outages to a minimum.

However in the rush to connect every ‘thing’ in sight, from lampposts, to factory machinery, to the wearable fitness monitor on your wrist, security has ranked low down on the priority list. Despite most manufacturers taking steps to build-in security, it doesn’t count for much if the end-user implementing the technology doesn’t properly configure the devices.  What’s even more disconcerting is a recent study that suggests that 70 percent of all IoT devices have serious vulnerabilities.

For example, an organisation may roll out a series of sensors across their factories, but fail to set up a passwords. Those same sensors are subsequently left vulnerable to be used for malicious functions they were never designed for.

Security is also a concern for governments who are investing in smart city infrastructure. IoT has the potential to create a wealth of new services and improve existing public services. Without adequate security, innocuous items which generally pose no threat, can be transformed into something far more sinister. For example, traffic lights that tell cars and pedestrians to go at the same time, or changing tracks to put a commuter train on the wrong course. A real life example of this kind of disruption came to light in late 2016, when San Francisco’s public transit system was hacked – forcing the city to allow commuters to travel for free, and causing wide-spread disruption across the city.

The insecurity of things

Another problematic insecurity is the networks that IoT data travels over. In addition to vulnerabilities in the device, malicious elements can reach you system through insecure networks. However, as technology press rapidly on, we’re not taking the appropriate steps to ensure end-to-end security is built in.

What’s worse is that this is a sin that has been committed in the past. Specifically, when the initial worldwide internet infrastructure was being built from 1990 to 2005. During this period security was an afterthought, and that enabled early hackers to grow and disrupt.

With this in mind, it’s important that organisations take time to pause and think about how they can work together to create an end-to-end infrastructure that can deal with the influx of new devices.

Know your enemy

As with any defence, the first step is to be aware of the threats and arm yourselves with the appropriate tools to minimise the risk falling into those traps. There are many effective methods of preventative and reactive security, but each approach will differ depending on the devices in your ecosystem.

An overall understanding of the end-to-end journey of your data, and the threats it faces at each leg of the journey will be beneficial, and organisations who work with partners to create a secure network for their devices will be rewarded in the long run. Unfortunately there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to securing the IoT infrastructure, and it will take a considered, group effort to ensure this beneficial technology evolves in a secure, and effective way.

Read one of my previous blogs on the evolution of ransomware.

The post Security for the Internet of Threats appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Connected healthcare experiences for everyone

Today’s connected consumers – and patients – increasingly expect their healthcare provider to offer them a similar digital experience as they are accustomed to when it comes to managing their finances through online banking, or ordering goods online. Patients want real-time data on their health and the ability to communicate with their doctor or nurse whenever, wherever. More and more clinics are already offering appointments via self-service portals, and alerts through simple application-to-person (A2P) messaging to remind patients of their appointment. Given the pervasive nature of SMS, there is scope for healthcare providers to extend the use of A2P messaging to, for example, remind their elderly patients to take their medications too. Furthermore, the increasingly sophisticated nature of IoT-enabled healthcare devices means that we’re only starting to scratch the surface of the potential of remote healthcare provision and monitoring.

However, healthcare organisations don’t simply need to start providing their patients with a seamless experience, they also need to consider how best to interact with partners too. Hospitals, diagnostic labs, consultants, researchers – they should all expect an omni-channel experience to deliver the best possible service. For instance, a hospital porter should be able to identify in-patients and portable medical scanners immediately, all through a mobile app. Furthermore, all parts of the healthcare ecosystem – hospitals, research facilities, pharmaceutical companies, clinics and patients – should be able to communicate and work together more easily, with a more seamless flow of information (with the patient’s consent of course). This is one sector where the customer simply can’t be kept waiting, so reliable connectivity to enable this better communication and information flow is a must-have.

That’s not to say connectivity doesn’t come with its own challenges. Patient data is critical, yet connectivity could introduce a security risk. Organisations may also find it difficult to scale solutions as demand fluctuates. That’s why they have to make sure they’re choosing the right partner for their infrastructure solutions.

Trustworthy and reliable

As they take advantage of digital transformation, healthcare providers are going to have to take positive steps to manage to risk. That means protecting patient records and other data and applications against external threats. It also means ensuring service continuity and zero disruption in the event of a breach: it is not inconceivable that cyber criminals start to target millions of IoT-enabled healthcare devices to stage huge attacks which could put people’s lives at risk.

That is why healthcare organisations need to adopt an adaptive security strategy. This means shifting from an ‘incident response’ mind set to a ‘continuous response’ mind set. Typically, there are four stages in an adaptive security life cycle: preventative, detective, retrospective and predictive. Preventative security is all about blocking attacks before they affect the organisation or make it more difficult for an attacker to wreak havoc, giving the organisation more time to disable the attack in process. The aim of the detective security layer is to reduce the time that attackers spends within the system, limiting the subsequent damage. Retrospective security is like a vaccine that protects you against diseases – it turns intelligence about past attacks into future protection. Predictive security plugs into the external network of threats, monitoring hackers underground to proactively anticipate new attack types.

If the move to new technology sounds risky, staying with the status quo is riskier still. Organisations have a simple choice: move forward, or get left behind.

A healthy transformation

It’s time for healthcare providers to offer a cross-border service, with a global network infrastructure and global connectivity. Only an international partner that offers global mobile network access and connectivity agreements is going to meet the requirements to deliver services such as tele-medicine, remote diagnostics and eHealth services.

Harnessing the opportunities unleashed by the IoT can help to boost efficiency and productivity, and ensure that organisations stay competitive. By enhancing the patient experience, healthcare providers will enhance their reputation too.

Read one of my previous blogs on the growing pains that come with the Internet of Things.

The post How IoT is transforming the healthcare industry (Part 2) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Given these varying demands, to stay ahead, more and more healthcare organisations are investigating machine-to-machine communications and the Internet of Things (IoT).

While patients are already used to decentralised treatment centres, self-diagnosis portals and even telemedicine, this is just a beginning. Process management and cloud-based applications are unleashing new ways of working such as remote monitoring and support of patients, and delivering innovative ways for customers to access healthcare services.

The supply chain is changing too, with more and more collaboration across the entire ecosystem to bring down costs, accelerate the digitisation of medical records and introduce more patient-centric treatment models. This brings very real benefits to the quality of patient care, as local practitioners have more up-to-date data on their patients and their conditions at their fingertips, enabling doctors and nurses to make better informed data-led decisions with regards to remedies and patient care.

Now the IoT looks set to change the healthcare sector once again. It’s worth investigating the key factors that are going to be crucial during this next evolution.

Healthcare will go global

Health organisations need to take digital transformation on board to extend their services and reach in areas and communities where there aren’t enough healthcare professionals to treat a growing number of increasingly elderly patients. To succeed, they’re going to have to get the right strategy in place, combined with best-in-class infrastructure and information tools.

Large healthcare groups are international, so connectivity services need to be international too. It’s no longer possible to think on a purely domestic basis. To maintain consistent patient care standards across geographies, healthcare providers need a reliable communications network partner that can provide end-to-end mobile and cloud connectivity as well as data management services. Only by offering excellent service both in a domestic setting and across borders can they win and keep new business.

Continuous collaboration and ubiquitous access

Multi-platform collaboration across employees, partners and patients is the next step for healthcare organisations. By giving everyone access to the data and applications they need, wherever and whenever they’re needed, healthcare organisations can boost productivity and drive efficiency.

Let us consider the advances that telemedicine has already introduced. IoT-enabled mHealth solutions could deliver savings of €99 billion in the European Union, so it’s no wonder that healthcare organisations are exploring other new technologies that could bring down treatment costs and make physicians more available for patients.

One trend we’re bound to see is ever-better connectivity, as hospitals and organisations link up their care estate and supply chains to deliver a truly seamless service.

These two areas should be a focus point when looking at ways to harness the opportunities unleashed by IoT. By thinking globally and collaborating across ecosystems, healthcare providers can begin to leverage IoT to more effectively to enhance patient care. In part two of this blog I will look at two other areas that will help transform the healthcare industry.

Read one of my previous blogs on the growing pains that come with the Internet of Things.

The post How IoT is transforming the healthcare industry (Part 1) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

According to a Bain & Company research brief, “The changing faces of the cloud”, global cloud spending is predicted to increase from $180bn in 2015 to $390bn by 2020. From 2012 to 2015, cloud demand accounted for 70% of related IT market growth, and it is expected to represent 60% of growth through to 2020.

IT executives cite cost, innovation and agility as reasons for cloud adoption, according to Gartner. Cloud reduces the high cost of hardware and allows scalability and flexibility, which gives businesses a competitive advantage to grow quickly with manageable IT infrastructure expenses.

While there has already been exponential growth in cloud computing, arguably cloud technologies are still in the formative stages. While many talk about a cloud-first strategy gathering pace in enterprises, we think that most enterprises do not use the cloud to completely replace existing infrastructure – they are only using it for a relatively small portion of their needs. There is still a great deal of untapped potential to modernise infrastructure and unlock capabilities using the cloud.

Here are our three recommendations to make the most of the advantages available through cloud computing:

1. Invest in software-defined infrastructure

IT defines application and operation policies, while orchestration software automates infrastructure provisioning and configuration to meet your needs. A software-defined infrastructure (SDI) operates independent of specific hardware and is programmatically extensible. This video from Intel provides a useful snapshot of SDI.

Orchestration software continuously monitors telemetry provided by resources to manage workloads. As service demands change, the orchestrators will intelligently analyse and determine which resources can provide the best support. Orchestration software will learn from past patterns to optimise future decisions and make your datacenter smart and self-scaling.

2. Optimise cloud infrastructure across a full range of workloads

Your cloud strategy, whether it’s private, public or hybrid, needs to be determined by the needs of your organisation and the specific solution or service in question. In a private cloud, an organisation typically owns the cloud infrastructure components and houses them within its own data centre. In a public model, the cloud infrastructure components are owned by a cloud provider. A hybrid consists of a mix of both models.

To gain the advantages of the cloud while maintaining control of intellectual property, most companies focus on hybrid-cloud approach. But, whatever the model, IT needs to set up and configure the cloud environment so that the workloads will be organised and managed effectively.

Cloud infrastructure is of course present in each of the three main cloud models. The infrastructure consists of the hardware and software components such as servers, storage, network switches and virtual machines, memory, network, virtualisation software and more. A cloud-based infrastructure has the capability to decouple the storage control and management from the physical implementation via a distributed file system.

3. Accelerate cloud deployments

Deploying cloud computing with the appropriate infrastructure can pose a formidable challenge for IT managers – and an open source platform and community, OpenStack, attempts to solve this challenge. It is a set of software tools which enables IT administrators to manage compute, memory, storage and networking resources through a web interface to accelerate cloud deployments.

OpenStack is a global collaboration of developers and cloud computing technologists with backgrounds in public clouds, high performance computing and Web 2.0. The project aims to deliver components that can be used for implementing private and public clouds, and that are API-compatible with key Infrastructure as a Service cloud services.

Intel has been a major contributor to OpenStack, and in collaboration with us, Tata Communications has chosen OpenStack as the architecture for its IZO Private Cloud. Like Tata Communications’ cloud team, the OpenStack experts at Intel understand enterprise IT managers’ cloud deployment challenges, and we’re committed to addressing them head-on.

Find out more about Tata Communications’ cloud capabilities here.

The post Modernise your cloud infrastructure in 3 steps appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Everyone I meet wants to see how they can get results. They want to understand what digital transformation looks like and how it can enable them to capture borderless growth and boost productivity in the short and long-term future.

Digital transformation is about execution; whether automating processes, moving applications to the cloud or communicating with customers in new ways. It is easy to plan a digital strategy and believe in the cloud but there are a few critical things that enterprises must address to get it right.

1. Think global, act local

The first challenge is developing and deploying a centralised transformation strategy that can be localised. One size doesn’t fit all and this can lead to new complexity for enterprises looking for a global transformation. From a strategic level, there needs to be a centralised approach, which has the flexibility for local offices to implement digital transformation as per local needs. This could include maintaining control of the P&L, either through effective process control of local billing entities or centralised cost centres, noting the need to observe local tax and intra-company transfer pricing rules. After all, regulatory environments and user demands can differ quite a bit from market to market.

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and security should support a globally consistent experience for end users while local flexibility enables regional operations to be agile in how they manage the transformation. At the same time, this approach removes the limits on growth and enables enterprises to seamlessly expand their geographic reach.

2. Choosing a transformation partner

The second point is that transformation doesn’t just mean deploying cloud solutions. Enterprises need to migrate from a multi-vendor environment to a single global partner capable of managing local vendors in a consistent and efficient manner. Multiple vendors can limit agility, flexibility and productivity, erasing the benefits of transformation.

Enterprises should focus on transitioning, ending contracts and vendor programme management. It might not be as exciting as deploying new cloud solutions but it creates a foundation for the future. There’s an opportunity to reduce the complexity that comes with managing multiple carriers, contracts, invoices and service management procedures.

Enterprises need a single service provider to deliver integrated cloud strategies both around the world and on a site-by-site basis. The relationship should be a continual evolution, in which both organisations commit to the same journey.

In year one, the enterprise and service provider work to understand the state of play within the ICT organisation, collaborate on solutions and begin executing. By the time year three rolls around, they should be evolving their partnership to match changing demand and new opportunities.

3. Measuring transformation

The final challenge is measuring results. Enterprises must track cost savings and optimisation across the business but also on a return on investment (ROI). They need to look at the big picture and how transformation has influenced individual departments and functions within the organisation to achieve business goals on expansion, cost containment and corporate compliance.

Digital transformation isn’t just about saving money on IT. The deployment of a customer relationship management (CRM) system globally, for example, impacts the whole business. The benefits of new efficiency and productivity will cut across the organisation and go beyond the ICT function.

When an enterprise assigns key performance indicators (KPI) to its transformation journey, it can see when it is a success. When an enterprise hits its KPIs, transformation is no longer a buzzword but the new reality for the organisation. That’s the exciting part for both the enterprise and their service provider partner.

The critical path

A successful digital transformation hinges on having a global strategy which shows an acute awareness of local implementation needs. Furthermore, you need a single transformation partner that will commit to measurable objectives which you achieve over an agreed period.

Read on to find out more about how to manage your digital transformation.

The post 3 major digital transformation challenges appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In India, these critical foundations are being built with the creation of the world’s largest IoT network, using LoRa Low Power WAN technology. The first phase of the roll-out targets Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 cities in India, touching over 400 million people. Alongside successful field trials in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, there are also 35 proof-of-concept applications being trialled at present. This IoT network will have unprecedented reach and signal strength, enabling communications up to 50 metres underground. This makes it suitable for use in metro stations and car parks, and through half a dozen walls inside buildings. The network is a collaborative effort by us and our partners such as HPE, harnessing our collective connectivity and IoT platform capabilities to pave the way for new smart buildings and transport systems, utility, health and security services.

For the roll-out of new IoT services, a right type of IoT platform is crucial. Given that this is still a nascent market, a fragmented ecosystem is developing around IoT, with a broad set of requirements including devices, BSS/OSS, connectivity, analytics, applications and related services. Ultimately however, when any business chooses its own IoT platform, it is important to ensure that it has not only the technical capabilities to enable the adoption IoT with minimal CAPEX and with maximum agility and reach, but also the business capabilities that allow the generation of new revenues from IoT services. Through a cloud-based IoT platform and global ubiquitous connectivity, any business with ambitions for smart city applications can gain full control and visibility over new IoT-enabled services.

Securing a hyper-connected city

Whenever any new connected technology becomes mainstream, there are concerns around the security vulnerabilities that these devices might entail. Connecting hundreds of thousands of IoT devices in a smart city represents challenges in terms of network security, as every device is a potential vulnerability which can be used cyber criminals to stage an attack such as DDoS. This can have potentially disastrous consequences, bringing the whole city to standstill.

While DDoS protection capabilities exist to protect all IoT applications, it is also critical that any new smart city systems are built from scratch with security at the core, and updated constantly to keep up with cyber criminals’ efforts to stage attacks. Still, the more super-connected cities become, the more vulnerabilities they will have: hyper-connected systems, whereby each system is reliant on others, makes cities more susceptible to single points of failure. That is why close collaboration between governments and private sector organisations around IT and network security is paramount to safeguard hyper-connected smart cities today and in the future. This includes common procedures, such as using highly secure and reliable enterprise-grade private or hybrid networks instead of the public Internet for many IoT applications.

So, what started out as a pipedream, is finally seeing the light of day around the world, with analysts at IHS projecting that there will be at least 88 smart cities globally by 2025 – up from just 21 in 2013. Whether new greenfield developments in emerging markets, or brownfield sites in Europe, all these smart cities will be built on the foundations of state-of-the-art, superfast connectivity and cloud infrastructure. These foundations will underpin the IoT-enabled applications of a smart city, paving the way for high-tech innovation, bringing new opportunities to businesses and ultimately tremendously improving the lives of everyone.

Read a previous blog on how technology will be able to guide our lives in the future. 

The post Smart City reality with IoT and ubiquitous connectivity (Part 2) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

What do you do when you have a competitive fire burning within you and you have no natural outlet in which you can participate? I experienced that as a boy growing up. The way I grew up didn’t offer much in sports or indulgences in hobbies – and my short legs ensured that I wasn’t a fast runner!

Most of my time was spent working on my grandfather’s farm. But it was a special farm. It was located in terminal moraine country of Canada, where the glaciers of long ago left high, rolling hills with magnificent vistas. From the back field of the farm, one could catch a glimpse of Lake Ontario 22 miles away. And, the farm was just a few miles from Mosport, the Canadian motorsport race track that hosted F1 Grand Prix of Canada until it moved to Montreal. So, one could hear the roar of race car engines, and when the wind was blowing right, you could even smell the gasoline and rubber. Since then, my imagination was fired by the sounds and smells of the fastest cars on earth wafting in the summer breeze.

Emergent technology and cars

Cars were in my DNA. My father worked for most of his career at General Motors and a couple of my brothers worked for spells in the assembly factory. I saved my money and bought my first car at the age of 17. However my career was to take me to the exciting world of technology instead of the automotive world.

Technology has fascinated me from an early age. I am still amazed at how one can take arrays of simple transistors embedded in a silicon chip, and make a machine that has artificial intelligence. I eagerly embraced new technology wherever I found it and began incorporating new emergent technology in my work.

A pundit once said that the easiest way to predict the future is to invent it. Embracing emerging technology and incorporating lateral thinking and creativity is one way to invent the future and perhaps change the world. So when Tata Communications unveiled the Internet of Things themed challenge of this year’s F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize, I thought, this is where I could make a difference with my ideas.

Awe-inspired engineering

I got to work. I wanted to create not only an IoT connectivity solution, but a technology platform that would give the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 team a big data and analytics edge over the competition. As an engineer, I am in awe of German engineering and the engineering behind the Mercedes team in particular.  They have almost perfected the art of the machine and it would be an honour for me to help make that racing fusion of man and machine even smarter.

Future proofed connectivity, actionable insights

So what does my ideal platform consist of? As the name Internet of Things suggests, these applications rely on connectivity largely through the Internet. However, sometimes it isn’t fast enough. To overcome this issue in my idea, I have fused data collection with near-field radio communications such as Bluetooth, to carry data from any sensor. This makes it future-proofed.

The second innovative aspect of my platform is that instead of having one computer program read all of the data, it has an array of bots acting independently of each other.  This allows for faster data processing and many more connections to sensors in the race car, the humans in the pits, the mechanics, and the driver.

Furthermore, my platform speeds up the processing of sensor data, thanks to a massive population of software robots working in tandem to process the data into a form that can be analysed. And, because the masses of data have to be kept safe and be transparent, accessible and secure, my platform uses a private blockchain, accessible to everyone who needs it.

Finally, my platform uses advanced analytics to make sense of the data it collects. After all, data is just data until it undergoes a transformation into knowledge and insights. Using machine learning to minimise the need for human intervention, the platform displays all this knowledge on a smart executive dashboard, and allows the team to dig deeper into the raw data too for extra insights.

Having grown up so close to the world of F1, and in a family of petrol heads, I am so excited to present my idea to the F1 Connectivity Innovation Prize audience in Abu Dhabi in November. And, it would be a dream come true to one day build this for Tata Communications and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 team.

To learn more about the opportunities for digital transformation in F1, check out Mehul Kapadia’s blog post.

Tata Communications was the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula 1® between 2012 and 2019. Tata Communications was also the Official Managed Connectivity Supplier to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and Official Digital Transformation Partner to ROKiT Williams Racing until the end of the 2019 season.

The post Changing the world one byte at a time – bringing emergent technologies to F1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

A lot has been said about the evolving media landscape and how broadcasters must look to transform their distribution models. This has become a necessity for broadcasters who want to keep pace with their mammoth, digital-first, non-traditional counterparts. However, this is only half the battle.

Content is still where the killer value lies. You can get as many people as you like to see your content, but if it doesn’t match their expectations they will find something better. Many television critics have claimed we are living through a golden age of programming, including blockbuster shows like Game of Thrones, True Detective, Breaking Bad, to name a few. There are a number of factors that have contributed to this golden age of content, which in part has grown from a better understanding of emerging viewing habits and needs.

For content to land with today’s diverse audiences, there is ultimately one commodity that broadcasters should value above all else – data.

Data analytics and the death of the traditional ‘pilot’

In years gone past, traditional television networks used ratings to decide which shows to renew and which shows to axe – an approximate figure at best. Meanwhile, new shows were given the green light based on tradition and the intuition of industry executives. The old method was an incredibly imprecise science.

What we have today is an industry re-born and fuelled by data analytics.

As of February 2017, Netflix had over 98.7 million users. The data Netflix harvests and utilises from those users plays a huge part in how it selects and commissions future content for its users. Netflix uses big data analytics to understand which shows land well with its global audience and how and when people access its service.

This huge bank of data translates into actionable insights, and has been key in deciding which content producers Netflix partners with. It has been a key part of some of its biggest success stories, including shows like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and The Crown.

The outcome is a complete revolution in the way content is commissioned in today’s content-rich industry. Amazon Prime took this one step further in 2016, when it released four Amazon Original Series pilots and invited its users to view and vote for the pilot it most wanted to be commissioned for a full series.

This leads us to an exciting new age for television. But, while content can be the jewel in a broadcaster’s crown, how it is distributed is now a huge part of the value chain as well. In part two of this blog post, I’ll talk about how broadcasters are finding new ways to bring their killer content to global audiences.

Read my previous blog on 4K technology and new viewing experiences.

The post Bringing killer content to viewers – part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Managing network congestion

Right now networks are monitored by algorithms which look for anomalous build-ups of traffic and activity which may be the result of malicious activities such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and attempted hacks. As the AI powering these algorithms becomes more intelligent, it will find faster and more fool-proof methods of anticipating threats and cleaning the network.

Another example is that AI will be able to better predict traffic as it collects and analyses data in real-time, meaning network managers are better prepared for big events such as the Olympics, Black Friday and Singles Day, which often put the Internet under pressure.

AI will also play a central role in software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) of the future. It’s still a nascent technology but SD-WAN is set for huge growth: Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than 40% of WAN edge infrastructure refresh initiatives will be SD-WAN-based, up from less than 2% today.

Empowered by AI, an SD-WAN allows enterprises to deploy a new kind of hybrid network that combines the scalability of the Internet with security and reliability of a private network. The ability to automatically and dynamically route traffic between the Internet and the private network, ensures that employees are able to enjoy superfast, secure access to applications and data to collaborate securely and seamlessly, wherever in the world they are.

AI-connected world

With this combination of AI-designed underlying network topologies and AI-driven software defined networking we will eventually see more profound evolutions of what networks are capable of. One idea is that of a universal network – a living, breathing global ecosystem.

Today, telecoms service providers and mobile operators strive to deliver an “always-best connected” experience to consumers. However, no matter what levels of automated switching and offloading capabilities are programmed into networks, they still don’t actively “think” for themselves.

AI has the power to radically change this, enabling us to move away from a traditional distributed network matrix. The ubiquitous network topology will emerge thanks to AI. Everything will be connected everywhere we will be able to connect data anywhere.

We will no longer have to think about whether we are using Wifi, a mobile network, Bluetooth, or one of the many IoT network technologies. It will just work. Ultimately, we won’t need a mobile phone, a wearable or any other device to access this connectivity universe – our innumerable applications will become a virtual platform as we interact with them or even put them on our bodies.

AI networks and humans

Of course, this would require a lot of work to be done by us humans first. Creating a world where all networks work harmoniously together to give all consumers a best-connected experience is a task that the telecoms industry must work together to achieve in a way that is mutually beneficial to everyone in the global network ecosystem and consumers.

We need to see continued investment by all players in global networking to ensure that the infrastructure and systems that people and businesses rely on will be able to keep up with their growing digital demands.

Imagine a universal network that can make decisions for you based on your location and activity – seamlessly routing you to the best possible network to handle the task you are carrying out without interrupting your experience. Within this world, AI would be the facilitator of real-time conversations between networks ensuring that all interactions are receiving the best-possible quality of service out of the connections available to them.

Total rethink

In summary, I expect the impact of AI in the design, management and protection of future networks to be radical. However, as well as the more functional, operational elements, the advent of AI provides a huge opportunity to revolutionise the world’s networks. This is particularly important when one considers that we are at the tipping point where the things we use networks is about to change forever, thanks to things such as IoT-enabled autonomous vehicles and always-connected smart city systems.

In this context, will AI prompt a total rethink of whether the current business models are conducive to providing the best possible user experience and the most cost-effective way possible? Because if it does, that truly would be a profoundly positive impact of AI on our industry.

Read one of our previous blogs on the future of telecoms and who is shaping it.

The post “A.I. do”- the marriage of AI and networking – part 2 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Finally, this sleeping giant of the global economy, steeped in an ornate culture of arts, sports and entertainment was ready to realise its potential. Fast-forward and a year later there is still work to do for South America’s most advanced economy. Many regard Brazil’s Olympic legacy as a fallacy, as stadiums have become dilapidated and economic recovery has slowed.

From forest to metropolis

Rather than announce its arrival as the South American superpower, the global spotlight on Brazil’s games reopened the scars of a developing nation in the eyes of many. Spending on the games had come at the expense of industry, infrastructure and the people.

The warning signs were apparent two years previously when protesters took to the streets to complain about national expenditure on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, even despite a national obsession with football. The overriding message was that Brazil wasn’t ready. For beneath the outward projection of prosperity was a soft underbelly of underdeveloped infrastructure, for which it would pay a heavy price in the long term.

As well as economic commentators, some of Brazil’s national heroes such as Pele have expressed concern regarding Brazil’s perceived lack of investment in infrastructure. These issues point towards a reality behind the carnival – so what are the challenges facing Brazil from an infrastructure perspective?

Brazil may be the ninth largest economy in the world but it is one of the most complex. It covers four time zones with everything from the vast rivers and rainforests of Amazonia to metropolises such as Sao Paulo – the most populous city in the Americas. Brazil is also the fifth largest country in the world in terms of both land mass and population, so its ground transport networks face huge challenges.

The South American superpower?

While the natural and urban geography doesn’t make it an easy country to travel around, Brazil now seeks parity with its economic counterparts in terms of its technological infrastructure. Five years ago Brazil lagged behind in this area, which presented a crucial strategic issue which undermined industry, contributed to centralisation and drove inefficiencies in transport and utilities.

However, despite the economic downturn Brazil is on an upward trajectory technologically. TechCrunch reported that Brazil’s tech sector is booming despite social and political challenges, while investments in its tech start-up scene have increased, according to the FT.

Furthermore, Brazil is taking a holistic view of its connectivity infrastructure – starting with one of its largest trading partners – the US.

To address growing demand for high-bandwidth connectivity from carriers and enterprises, we have invested in a low latency cable system linking the business hubs Sao Paulo and New York. Seaborn Networks’ Seabras-1 subsea cable system will provide enterprises and service providers with much needed secure, reliable, connectivity and access to Tata Communications’ global subsea fibre optic cable network, TGN.

Putting Brazil on the map in terms of global connectivity is just one step in its economic evolution. However, it is a vital one which provides a solid foundation on which businesses and policy makers can build.

Look out for part 2 of this series, and in the meantime check out some of our previous blogs on emerging markets.

The post Brazil: The South American superpower appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Setting the arguments for and against this evolution to one side, what we will see is a democratisation of skills which will have the potential to overcome some of the most complex engineering challenges known to both man and machine.

In part one of this two-part series on the marriage of AI and networking, I’ll discuss the impact AI will have on designing the networks that keep people and businesses connected in the future.

Democratising skills with algorithms

Designing a network is one of the most incredibly complex feats of engineering known to man. There are only a few people on the planet who have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to embark on such a project.

One argument in favour of using AI to help improve the network design process is that this knowledge, experience and skill becomes accessible to the many rather than restricted to the few. By pouring all our existing expertise, data and research into an AI algorithm, this knowledge can be shared and used more creatively as well as augmented and developed further.

So, not only will the number of people and companies that are able to build and innovate with networks increase, the networks which are designed and developed will be capable of far more than their predecessors.

We are already seeing networks becoming increasingly complex due to their global and multi-layered nature, with wireless networks such as superfast 4G or Low Power Internet of Things (IoT) networks built on top of the global fibre IP backbone.

A couple of years ago, you could have argued that network complexity was increasing faster than the rate of technological innovation. However, AI is the key to designing networks which are future proofed against the increasing demands new technologies such as autonomous driving, virtual reality and the IoT will put on the world’s networks.

If it ain’t broken…

While the process of designing a network is highly mathematical and logical, it is still “human” in the sense that somebody does it. This person, amazingly talented as they are, is still prone to human facets such as habit, personal preference and bias. They say “old habits die hard” and psychologically humans are pre-disposed to continue with ways of working which have stood them in good stead previously. This is summed up by another idiom: “don’t fix it if it isn’t broken.”

These predispositions as well as other variables such as time and budget restrictions can prevent humans from weighing up every single possible alternative when they are already aware of a process which has worked just fine in the past. The natural inclination is to focus on the things which are in most obvious need of improvement. This is what sets humans and machines apart.

Machine learning will overturn the human approach to design and find ways of designing networks which are faster, more cost-effective and produce better results than we are currently capable of. The sheer relentlessness of the computing power with AI will achieve means that there are potentially design and management techniques which humans are yet to discover, but self-improving intelligent algorithms will harness over time.

In part 2 of this blog series, I will look beyond AI’s role in the initial design stage and examine how it will be used to improve the way networks are managed and maintained.

Read one of my previous blogs where I discuss how technology will be able to guide our lives in the future.

The post “A.I. do”- the marriage of AI and networking – part 1 appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Countries around the world have been racing to get there first, testing smart city systems in areas such as building management, transport and energy to be able to call their city one of the first truly smart cities. Their approaches have differed considerably too. In emerging markets such as India, a smart city can be built practically out of nothing in greenfield sites, whereas in developed economies such as in Europe, a smart city has to be built around existing infrastructure in brownfield sites and adapted to legacy systems, which can be more challenging.

Indian smart cities – and villages

One emerging market that has recently taken the lead in smart cities development is India, where Kochi (Kerala), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha) recently unveiled their ambitions for a smarter future for the benefit of city dwellers, businesses and society as a whole. A smart city project that is already underway is in the western state of Gujarat, near Ahmedabad, called Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT). It is looking to attract trillions of dollars of investment with the aim of becoming not only the country’s first fully-fledged smart city, but also a rival for Hong Kong, London, New York City and Singapore as a major global financial services centre. The Bombay Stock Exchange has already set up an international exchange in GIFT, and the data centre and connectivity infrastructure to underpin the smart systems of the city is being deployed as we speak.

An area where smart cities could make a huge difference in a country like India is urbanisation, which manifests itself on a daily basis as electricity shortages and traffic jams, for example. Indian smart city projects aim to tackle the challenges associated with explosive urbanisation by harnessing the power of networked IT and IoT systems spanning traffic control, parking, communication, energy management and much more.

What’s particularly fascinating is that India’s smart ambitions aren’t confined to cities only: the state of Rajasthan has plans to develop more than 3,000 smart villages, with connected utility systems, including access to clean drinking water, more wide-spread Wi-Fi connectivity, e-libraries, smart street lights and e-health facilities.

The smart city race is on in Europe

In Germany, the focus for smart cities is on enhanced urban transport networks, water supply and waste disposal facilities, and more efficient lighting and heating systems for buildings. Additionally, city planners are exploring the potential of smart systems to enable more interactive and responsive city administration, the development of safer public spaces, and meeting the needs of an ageing population. And, the country is ahead of many others, having launched in 2011 the well-known Morgenstadt initiative to support upcoming smart city projects in Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. Of these, Cologne’s smart city stands out for me – because it started in a public housing area built in the 1950s. Dewog-Siedlung and Stegerwald-Siedlung areas are now becoming equipped with interconnected e-bikes, an electric car sharing system, energy supply via the Internet, state-of-the-art photovoltaic power systems and cutting-edge communication technologies.

In the UK too, Bristol, Glasgow, Milton Keynes and Cambridge are building their own smart cities. Bristol, for example, plans to solve problems such as air pollution and assisted living for the elderly as part of the smart city agenda. Testing with machine-to-machine interaction is taking place too, with companies developing wireless links that enable driverless cars to communicate with smart city infrastructure and to even bring people new entertainment experiences with sensing and video processing capabilities.

Finally, my home town of Singapore is adopting perhaps the most ambitious data gathering and analysis effort ever seen in a smart city, using sensors and cameras spread across the city-state to monitor everything such as crowd density and traffic flows. The ultimate goal is to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases and prepare emergency services in the event of natural disasters.

As more countries continue to adopt a smart city infrastructure, the hype will become a more significant reality. However, the extent of these possibilities will rely on some critical foundations.

In part two of this blog post, I will look at the dependencies underpinning smart cities.

Read one of my previous blogs where I looked at 5 hot trends from Mobile World Congress 2017.

The post Smart City reality with IoT and ubiquitous connectivity (Part 1) appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

I attended International Telecoms Week (ITW) in Chicago in May, and there were a lot of discussions about industry collaboration and managing disruption.  A shared vision and a set of strategic industry priorities is a good start – but there’s more to it than that.

I think there needs to be a realisation that carriers are not setting the agenda in wholesale anymore. Enterprises and end users are.

It isn’t 2005, and wholesale carriers no longer hold a privileged position with high voice revenues and massive growth in data consumption. No matter what is discussed and agreed on at ITW, the real drivers for change are coming from the bottom up – from enterprises – rather than from the top down.

Enterprises want to see service providers evolve their businesses and reshape their offerings to better match their needs. That cascades across the value chain. The wholesale industry should take note and focus on how they are going to enable transformation and help service providers to serve new enterprise demand.

In a global study commissioned by Tata Communications, we found that there is a gap between what service providers are offering and what enterprises really want. Focus areas are not aligned and there’s work to be done to make transformation effective and real.

The study showed that 43% of enterprises are prioritising cloud services while only 24% of service providers are. Enterprises want network services that reflect the journey they are taking to the cloud. At the same time, they are looking for cloud consulting and help with migration, whereas 36% of enterprises said their network providers could do better to help them with this.

Similarly, the study shows that 22% of enterprises are concerned about their service provider’s current network not keeping up with new applications or usage patterns, while only 3% of service providers say they are prioritising this.

While service providers are proud of their progress in managed services, enterprises are still concerned about networking. 30% of enterprises include “problems experienced with network providers” in their top 3 challenges but only 18% of service providers believe it’s a top 3 enterprise challenge.

I think this all adds up to a need to refocus on delivering solutions that match today’s expectations. Enterprises have very different needs than they did back in 2005, and they want service providers to change quickly to meet their new needs.

They want to collaborate with service providers and for their services providers to have a partner strategy that enables them to offer borderless growth and the agility to deploy new applications and services wherever they’re needed.

Enterprises want ubiquitous access to their applications and services while delivering seamless customer experiences regardless of device, platform or location. As the fight against cyber criminals gathers pace, the reliability and security of enterprise IT systems is more critical than ever, helping CIOs to manage business risk. Ultimately this will accelerate organisation-wide digital transformation.

Anticipating this shift in enterprises’ requirements and the growing role of cloud computing in powering their digital transformation, we have made it our mission to make the Internet fit for business. We have taken the best of both worlds – the security and predictability of private networks and the reach, scalability and cost-effectiveness of the public internet – and joined forces with scores of leading ISPs and the world’s biggest cloud players to create the IZO cloud enablement platform. It lowers the barriers that large multi-national businesses face in adopting cloud computing, making it quicker, more secure and less CAPEX intensive. By partnering with us, service providers are able to offer the full range of IZO services to enterprises to support them on their digital transformation journey without having to invest in building their own cloud solutions from scratch.

In this whole new world – powered by the cloud, petabytes of data and ubiquitous connectivity – the path to a healthy and sustainable wholesale market will come from understanding the entire value chain. Even for the largest providers in the world, the future of wholesale will be defined by the end user. That’s really where disruption starts in our industry.

Read Bob’s last blog post on the four business challenges that service providers must help enterprises to address. 

The post Who’s really shaping the future of telecoms? appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

We take career development very seriously. We know that investing in people creates engaged, dedicated employees who actively go the extra mile for their clients – a quality they have come to expect.

Diversity is key to creating a culture in which your employees can thrive. Thanks to the global nature of our business, our people have an incredible network of talent at their fingertips. Our people come from all walks of life, bringing with them different cultures, skills and perspectives. What they have in common is a passion for innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit that enables us to stay ahead of the game.

Driving the entrepreneurial spirit

In recent years the values and needs of the global workforce have shifted. Our future leaders are fuelled by a drive to influence the direction of their organisation – to make a difference in the world.

As employers it’s our responsibility to embrace and promote their passion. If we want the business to succeed we must give them the platforms and support they need. It was this belief that led to our flagship innovation programme, “Shape the Future.”

We’ve already seen the incubator create some fantastic opportunities, including NetFoundry, a business that reinvents networking for the hyper connected era. This was a great idea that was submitted to our “Shape the Future” programme by a team of our employees. NetFoundry was selected by the programme and the team was given the tools and time they needed to see through the formation and launch of the business. The end result was a well-received debut at this year’s Mobile World Congress. This example embodies the transformational change that we endeavour to deliver for our business, and for our clients’ business.

Encouraging collaboration and diversity

The success of our incubator, and the other projects across the business depends on our employees being able to access our global network of talent. As an organisation, we are dedicated to identifying, championing and nurturing diversity in our culture. Collaboration across regions, practices and skillsets is a recipe for enriching ideas and delivering better business.

In an effort to streamline collaboration across the business, we launched our internal “Project Marketplace” scheme. The internal platform enables anyone across the business to register their skills and to seek assistance on a project from staff around the world. By internally crowdsourcing talent from our global pool of people, managers don’t lose momentum on their projects, and the team expands their professional network. For the individuals registering their skills, the platform gives them an opportunity to work on projects that may span different regions and disciplines, providing them with the opportunity to grow their personal networks and progress their careers.

We know that our organisation is only as strong as our employees. The kind of transformational change that we need to undertake in business to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive, fast-paced industry, depends on our ability to facilitate transformational change for our employees. The success of our “Shape the Future” and “Project Marketplace” schemes have shown us that investing in programmes that address the gaps in our organisation’s culture is the key to unlocking the full potential of our talent pool and accelerating the future reach of our organisation.

To read more about collaboration in business, read our blog highlights here.

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Gartner predicts that 2017 will see 8.4 billion connected devices in use worldwide. This includes consumer products, like smart TVs, and in-car entertainment systems and industrial applications that can predict necessary maintenance in a factory or the most efficient way to distribute energy from a power plant. The ability of these applications to connect and interact with each other across the same platform offers new opportunities for enterprises to realise new, additional revenue.

But, especially from an industrial standpoint, the uptake on this new type of platform has been slow as enterprises seek out the best practices for connecting with multiple end-points, such as their customers, partners, employees and assets anywhere in the world. The movement to cloud-based mobile-first strategies, which optimise connectivity with these end-points creates additional layers of complexity.

Take the energy industry as an example. In short, too many organisations in this sector are operating an infrastructure that is analogue, aging and outdated. In many countries, this industry is in desperate need of a digital upgrade. With the current grid infrastructure in many economies already aging and in need of replacement, it’s time for utilities to switch out “dumb” assets for smart assets that can communicate digitally. It’s time to embrace data as the new currency of the energy sector.

Most importantly, the various technology options supporting the Internet of Things remain fragmented, with different standards and technology, each of which can apply to different applications, making the concept of IoT rather less plausible. Rather than internetworking, it is more like an archipelago with many islands.  In fact, Forrester says that this year design teams will search through more than 19 new wireless connectivity choices and protocols to support the company’s diverse set of IoT devices.

Let’s say, for example, you’re getting ready to go to a meeting that’s on your calendar and you’re using your phone’s GPS to drive there. Right now, the parking app doesn’t say it will take 20 minutes to drive there AND you’re going to have to park far away, so you had better leave now.” Google Maps knows the drive time, but can’t tell you the parking situation – that would be a different service.

For an industrial example, let’s go back to the energy example we discussed before. New technologies, including sensors and digital control systems, use real-time data to deliver better power plant outcomes with stable and efficient operations, while providing valuable predictive insights for higher reliability and optimisation.

The need for multiple apps will begin to change as the convergence of the technology creates synchronisation between applications. We’re seeing this as the advent of cloud-based M2M device management systems has begun to lessen the need for multiple apps and create more streamlined platforms. On top of that, mobile network operators are now willing to forgo being the main service contractor and provider, choosing instead to partner with M2M/IoT platform providers and third party system integrators in the realisation of their M2M/IoT strategies.

The growth of these connected networks will have an impact across borders and across industries. For example, the automotive industry offers an opportunity to deliver a borderless and unrestricted connected car experience, regardless of location. Transportation and logistics companies can realise new cost efficiencies in their business.

Borderless connectivity enables airline aircrews to stay connected to their company network, regardless of their location. And building connectivity into aircraft will help in diagnostics and servicing, potentially helping to identify a problem with an aircraft before it creates operational issues.

The IoT and mobile devices are creating a convergence of digital technology platforms that will eventually create a “one-stop shop” for consumers and businesses. While challenges remain, we are clearly moving towards digital platforms that enable this convergence for consumers and enterprises around the world, both in developed and emerging markets.

What new advancements would you like to see to make your life even easier and more efficient? Leave a comment below.

In the meantime, read Anthony Bartolo’s post on how borderless mobility will drive the growth of the Internet of Things. 

The post Growing pains of the Internet of Things appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

We’ve seen huge advancements over the past two decades: in 2000, undersea fibre cables delivered speeds of 2 Giga bits per second (Gbps). Today we’re looking at 100 Gbps. Now, more than ever, speed is the name of the game.

We’ve already seen personal connectivity speeds take centre stage this year, with 5G emerging as the main topic at Mobile World Congress. Smartphones have driven the connectivity revolution thus far, but in 2017 we’re standing on the cusp of a whole new connectivity crunch.

Today there are over 3 billion internet users globally, but, more importantly, Gartner predicts that this year the number of connected devices will rise to 8.4 billion –building blocks for the Internet of Things (IoT).

There has been huge buzz around IoT, and its potential effect on our daily lives. We’re already seeing advancements in the IoT space – from connected homes to connected cars – but the real success of the infrastructure will rely on the devices’ ability to talk to each other, and deliver their insights to the consumer in one convenient location.

For example, your phone’s GPS tells you that the journey to your client meeting tomorrow will take 20 minutes. What it doesn’t tell you is that parking spaces are scarce at your destination, so you should build in an extra 15 minutes to find somewhere to stop. If these two applications were connected, you’d have all of this information in one application that you can access in the palm of your hand.

Personal assistant tools like Alexa and Google Home are already starting to make these connections, but there is still a long way to go. For example you can tell Alexa to turn the music on or turn on the lights, but you can’t say “Alexa when the music gets romantic, turn the lights down” because that would require it to communicate with, and be able to analyse, your music library.

All this convergence is bound to change our approach to life, but it can’t happen overnight. In fact, there’s likely to be more industry earthquakes like we’ve seen in the mobile space to make this a complete reality. Just as we’ve seen network speeds evolve over the last two decades, new developments like 5G will continue to push the pace of technological development.

The convergence and consolidation of platforms and devices will enable humans and machines to interact in a more seamless, streamlined way than ever before. And it’s clear that the future of the digital world lies in the billions of these connected devices and how they all interact with each other. Creating that world where all networks and applications work harmoniously together to give people this ubiquitous ultra-connected experience is a task we in the industry are ready to tackle together.

With the pace of change accelerating, why not look back at the past 15 years of Tata Communications, with this blog post by Vinod Kumar?

The post How technology will be able to guide our lives in the future appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

In spite of these enhancements, Gartner predicts that we will still have to wait around five years until the technology becomes mainstream, as technology investors assess its power to solve real business problems and enable them to exploit new opportunities. While today’s VR and AR technologies can still give us amazing experiences, the scope is limited while it remains largely unconnected to the rest of the world.

For example, consider this scenario: you’re buying a brand new car, it looks fantastic, and it’s fully functional and ready to go. However, it’s not going to take you anywhere unless you have the fuel to power it. It has no truly useful application to you beyond the aesthetic if it can’t drive. The current state of VR and AR is much the same, without the wireless network able to process it, the new ‘realities’ serve a limited purpose.

Limited connectivity solutions have so far restricted the roll-out of real ground-breaking applications for VR and AR, but when you develop applications that plug-in to the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, you begin to see the varied data-driven possibilities. This includes, for example, Augmented Reality  (AR) applications within the smart factory setting. The emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) means that there is more data at factory workers’ fingertips than ever before. One way workers can draw instant value from this data is by using AR-enabled glasses to overlay the information in real-time on top of what they’re working on. For example they could approach a sensor, and at a touch of a button immediately see the health status of the device and any other relevant attributed statistics in real-time.

This kind of application could also tap into manuals and procedures, overlaying information for engineers fixing factory objects in real-time. These applications improve the day-to-day operations and capabilities of the factory workers, improving productivity and enhancing safety in the workplace.

Looking at it from a consumer perspective, imagine being able to check-in on your home in real-time to make sure that everything is okay. For example, you could check in on your animals during the day, or check that your plants are being watered while you’re on an extended trip away from home.

These are the kinds of technologies that will lead VR and AR from being over-hyped, under-utilised technologies, to main-stream productivity boosting investments. However, this still all relies on the underlying connectivity infrastructure.

Beyond the sheer volume of content and application development, you need hardware with the capacity to handle the huge amounts of data communicated back and forth with cloud-based applications to constantly monitor, update and provide real-time information and real-time changes to what you’re seeing in your environment. This requires connectivity, it requires data analytics, machine learning, and cloud-based capabilities that the industry needs to solve in order to unlock the true value of VR and unleash the capabilities associated with AR, particularly when you combine it with the IoT.

In order to reap the benefits of VR and AR, enterprises need to start thinking today about these challenges, investing in and enhancing their network capabilities so that their infrastructure is prepared for the next generation of connected technologies and real-time data visualisation. Building the ecosystem for these applications will take time, so enterprises who invest in the groundwork today will reap the rewards of enhanced Virtual Reality  experiences later on.

Want to learn more about trends on the horizon? Read Anthony Bartolo’s blog post on MWC 2017 here.

The post Enhancing Virtual Reality in a Connected World appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

When cloud computing first emerged, the decision to move to the cloud was purely an IT one. But today, for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors, from oil and gas to manufacturing and retail, cloud has become a strategic platform for businesses to expand into new geographies, introduce new products and services faster, and drive their growth.  In addition to the technical advantages of leveraging cloud-based services, business owners have fully grasped the philosophical shift that the cloud stands for – empowered access to services by anyone, anytime, without the limitations of geographical borders.

A professor at New York University coined the term ‘cloud capitalism’ to describe the way in which the cloud has changed the world of business for good. There are now very limited barriers to entry across sectors, levelling the playing field between start-ups and industry stalwarts. In tandem, nimble, new market entrants are turning standard business models on their heads, forcing established players to innovate to be able to keep up.

In the era of cloud capitalism, power also shifts to the hands of the user, as people determine how and where they want to consume products and services, re-balancing supply and demand. More and more enterprises are embracing mobile platforms to be able to serve their customers more flexibly. Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Ross McEwan has described the commuter train from Reading to London Paddington at 7:01am as the company’s “busiest branch”, as close to 170,000 customers log on to the RBS mobile banking app while on their way to work in the city.

In this new era, the need to optimise assets also becomes paramount: it’s not possible to nimbly corner the market if you are sitting on a large inventory or other heavy assets. Crucially, you need to be willing to share those assets with others in the ecosystem – even your competitors.

Momentum is building around cloud capitalism today because of four fundamental shifts taking place in the industry. One is of course the pervasiveness and business-critical nature of the cloud, made possible by reliable and secure networks, compute and storage. Secondly, the Internet of Things (IoT). As highlighted by my colleague Anthony Bartolo recently, the IoT is empowering businesses to transform how they serve their customers, and the way people interact with the world around them. In Singapore, for example, there will soon be sensors in cars and on the roadways, and a toll will be charged based on the number of rotations of the tyre on the street that you’re driving through. The possibilities for applications like this are endless. Thirdly, artificial intelligence – like IoT, it will change interactions between the consumers and producers of services across all industries. And finally, APIs. They are accelerating the way in which software developers are able to bring more and more compelling services to data-hungry users’ fingertips.

The combination of these four shifts is very powerful, signalling the start of the platform economy, where fundamental rules of capitalism are being re-written by the cloud.

In parallel, digital transformation is making waves across all sectors. Arguably, in most businesses the focus has to-date been on ‘looking’ digital. So, “how can we improve the company website, make it more mobile friendly, and run some data analytics to glean more insights on our visitors?” But now, organisations across industries want to actually be digital. This brings about more existential questions such as “what business are we in? How are we going to make money? Where is the margin coming from in this value chain that we participate in?” Consequently, CIO conversations have taken on a very different tone. CIOs have become strategic partners for marketing, finance, sales and other lines of business, as well as senior management, who all want to know how they can leverage the latest innovative technology platforms and ecosystems, powered by the cloud.

Because of the need to foster these ecosystems, the role of partnerships is magnified in today’s platform economy. Anticipating this change and the importance of cloud in enabling enterprises and service providers to grab their share of this new economy, we introduced our IZO cloud platform in 2014. IZO, and its latest addition, IZO SDWAN, harness the unparalleled reach of our network and our partnerships with the world’s biggest cloud players to empower organisations to become truly digital and drive their growth on a global scale.

As cloud capitalism continues to gather pace, the key question for our customers and partners is how they can re-think their business models, strengthen their supply chains, innovate through new services, and expand to new markets in the platform economy through digital transformation.

To find out more about how Tata Communications is shaping the future of cloud, read Vinod’s latest blogs. 

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Some of our executives were on the ground in Barcelona to unveil the new Tata Communications MOVE mobility and Internet of Things (IoT) platform and while there, spent some time commenting on the trends they’re seeing from around the mobile industry.

Anthony Bartolo, President, Mobility, IoT and Business Collaboration:

Mobile-first digital transformation is happening

Digital transformation is going from being an industry buzzword to being a core part of business strategy for many forward-thinking enterprises. These businesses are moving away from traditional, physical infrastructures like desktops and enterprise data-centres and towards a mobile-first strategy – and in some cases mobile only. This means mobile connectivity is becoming mission critical for many businesses.

John Hayduk, Chief Operations Officer:

Mobility is enabling global IoT adoption

Increasingly, global companies are looking to deploy IoT applications to drive new business opportunities and open new markets. However, these devices have to be connected to the internet at all times, wherever they are – otherwise they become useless. Think of a global logistics company travelling air, land and sea and crossing borders and continents – the lack connectivity in one country or region could kill the entire operation. It’s for this reason that truly borderless, global mobility is the only thing that can help the internet of things realise its true potential.

5G is coming – but it may not be consumer demand that drives it

The hype around 5G has almost reached fever pitch at Mobile World Congress this year. However, there are still significant questions around its roll out, not least the question of who will pay for the infrastructure to deploy it. What’s more, we don’t even have complete 4G coverage yet, even in big cities where signal can be patchy. The smartphone was the killer app for 4G, and really helped drive it’s deployment.  Something revolutionary in the consumer sphere will be required again to make 5G a must have to speed it’s deployment.  It’s possible that the connectivity demands made by virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence, which will be huge consumers of this new bandwidth – could drive the deployment of 5G.

Mehul Kapadia, Vice President of Global Marketing:

Augmented reality  (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are gaining traction – that will drive demand for data

Looking at some of the announcements that are coming out of the show this year, it’s becoming clear that both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are moving beyond the hype. However, it’s the lesser-hyped AR, which literally augments what’s happening in your physical space, that’s really gaining traction with serious use cases, both for the enterprise and for consumers. Yet, as both VR and AR applications start to gain traction, they will drive enormous growth in demand for both cloud computing and mobile connectivity. Mobile network operators need to service this demand if they want to keep their customers satisfied.

Tim Sherwood, Vice President, Mobility & UCC Enablement:

Industrial applications for VR and AR

While most applications of VR and AR have been consumer-based up to this point, there’s actually going to be a lot more use in the industrial space. For example, in a factory setting users might be given headsets or glasses that overlay information or media – such as an equipment manual for example. This is going to have huge implications for productivity, as well as things like health and safety.

Watch the video to hear more from our executives. In the meantime, let us know what you thought the most important trends were at Mobile World Congress in the comments below

The post 5 hot trends from this year’s Mobile World Congress appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

But being ‘born connected’ is not just about humans. Ericsson estimates that within the next four years, the world will be home to 28 billion connected devices, largely thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT). From activity trackers and smart home hubs to connected cars and street lights, we live in a truly digital world.

Yet, the future of this digital world lies in how all these things connect.

Imagine a world where there will be embedded connectivity within everything; ubiquitous, seamless access to the Internet, anywhere in the world. That is what we at Tata Communications want to make a reality: a world where everything will be born connected. Straight out of the box, anything can come with instant, seamless access to the Internet, anywhere in the world.

Born connected, born with limitless possibilities

The world I describe may sound akin to the technology reality described in the film The Matrix. Yet, a world where 28 billion devices are globally and seamlessly connected to each other brings infinite opportunities to billions of Internet users and businesses alike.

Start-up success stories such as Uber, Airbnb and Deliveroo have shown how the IoT gives individuals the power to transform the world and the way people interact with it through technology. That is why Gartner has challenged CIOs to stop investing in commoditised IT and start building their digital capabilities, bringing diversity to businesses by harnessing the latest digital innovations.

Logistics giant UPS is an excellent case in point. Using on-vehicle IoT sensors, connected to powerful data management platforms across its ecosystem of distribution centres, UPS is now able to calculate the optimum vehicle speed to maximise miles per gallon, and monitor mileage by re-routing vehicles in real-time based on GPS data. This is having a very real positive impact, not only reducing the company’s carbon footprint but also driving down costs.

The mobile platform and digital transformation

Gartner has claimed that on the road to the much-talked-about ‘digital transformation’, CEOs will be the captains, but CIOs are expected to be the co-pilots.

In many organisations, digital transformation starts with mobility with the aim of boosting employee productivity and organisational agility. Furthermore, many organisations are already well on their way to mobilising their workforce: it has been estimated that up to 45% of enterprise employees can now be categorised as ‘anytime, anywhere’.

But how mobile can global businesses really be?

In organisations with operations spread across four or five continents, digital transformation should be focused on a mobile platform approach. When underpinned by the right mobile platform, a multitude of corporate applications can be used truly seamlessly, securely and globally via mobile, regardless of location or network – and without the high cost of data roaming.

Yet, this is just a start. The mobile platform will also pave the way for the next wave of IoT innovations. It will liberate organisations such as automotive manufacturers to innovate through new IoT-enabled business models and transform entire industries by removing the geographical barriers and network constraints that have held back the mobile industry for years.

Think mobile, be mobile

To realise the full potential of the mobile platform economy requires a shift in thinking.

Mobility should be considered in just the same way as the worldwide web and the cloud. This means being able to access apps, content and related services via mobile regardless of national borders or commercial access restrictions.

This is the premise of our mobile platform – built on our 15 years of experience in connecting businesses and people around the world.

It will not only make truly global enterprise mobility possible, but also be a powerful new revenue generator for mobile and IoT service providers and the makers of all future connected devices.  By combining the potential of the IoT, partnerships in the world’s mobile ecosystem and ubiquitous connectivity, we will be able to unlock unimaginable possibilities in how brands and businesses engage with their customers and how people interact with the world around them.

In a world where tens of billions of things will be born connected, this platform will be the innovation engine for the next generation of mobile and IoT services.

Are you going to Mobile World Congress? Meet us there at Hall 2, stand 2H26. 

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However, it also proposes new obligations to Internet services, provoking concern for the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft. In order to ensure that the services provided by these companies are comparable with those of incumbent European telecoms companies, this code places a greater regulatory burden on these Internet giants.

A slippery slope

In most respects, it seems reasonable to regulate obligations such as including the provision of clearer contractual information to customers; ensuring levels of security in their infrastructure; enabling equal access for disabled users; and letting consumers contact emergency services for free.

The main issue here is with regards to a standard EU principle that one set of regulations inevitably leads to another. So, the next logical step for the Code would most likely focus on data privacy and data protection, and this slippery slope seems to be the real issue for the Internet companies.

Same rules for all 

Lobby groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association and DigitalEurope have predictably reacted negatively to this announcement. The latter said that it was crucial for the new rules to “remain proportionate, technically feasible and supportive of innovation”. According to its Director John Higgins, “what we need to do now is to ensure that the proposed rules for online communication don’t inadvertently hamper innovation and that they are in line with technical realities”.

On the other hand, incumbent European telcos say that for years they have been forced to compete against OTT service providers, while having to adhere to very strict regulatory requirements. They argue that a level playing field is needed and that this can be better accomplished by regulating all the service providers equally, rather than just having a set of rules for one, and not for the other.

As with the negative reaction to the fair usage criteria in its roaming rules, it would appear that the EC cannot seem to steer a course that will keep everybody happy. This was never likely to be the case, and the EC is highly likely to take a regulatory course. The logic is that telcos have been heavily regulated so far, making it difficult for them to compete against the OTTs. So, the solution is to match the amount of regulation for OTTs, so as to ensure that European communications in general will be able to compete against non-EU companies, all with one set of regulations to have to adhere to.

Winners and losers

When momentous decisions need to be made, governments sometimes resort to the mechanism of a referendum. Perhaps the Code is such a divisive regulation, given the extremity of feeling that it has provoked, that a referendum is the only way of reaching a conclusion that benefits the majority, no matter how slim. However, this is a very all-or-nothing approach and there are always clear winners and losers.

So, to avoid the need for a straight-out “us versus them” decision, perhaps telcos and OTTs need to reach their own agreement on what regulation is the fairest for all, and present this to the EC for adoption. Yet, users will make a democratic choice on the services that they are happy with, voting with their feet whether it’s on cost, quality or security. As the OTTs hold the upper hand in so many ways at present, it is hard to see collaboration between OTTs and telcos in this regard.

That is why I would argue that regulation in the telecoms sector should be scaled back instead of regulation in the OTT space scaled up. This would encourage greater investment in service innovation, improve customer experience and empower traditional telcos to compete more effectively with OTT players.  It’s an approach that would help ensure the future success of the European technology and telecoms industry on a global level.

Read Conor’s previous post How service providers can discover new revenue streams from truly global unified communications. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts about telecoms regulation in the comments below.

Image credit: Sébastien Bertrand

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Most current AR applications have been able to create the initial excitement, but have struggled to sustain it. This is due to the fact that AR applications today (barring a few) can be characterised as “basic” as they have very limited functionality, and may be good only for specific one time use. Most, also, only allow for one-way interaction, rendering finite information to the user.

For AR to become truly mainstream, it has to allow multiple interactions and transactions, and should be able to better contextualise user environment and behaviour. That will unlock the true potential of AR and enable it to be used across multiple applications and scenarios. But to get there, AR has to first overcome many bottlenecks that exist today.

Some of the direct technology-related challenges in the AR space are quite well known and well documented, such as the lack of standards, the many variations in hardware and operating systems, and the limitations around AR content authoring, 3D tracking, optics, etc. These challenges will start to resolve slowly as the AR technology evolves and matures, and companies start to make investments in this space.

But there are other aspects of a strong ecosystem – which are not in direct control of the technology companies working on AR – that also need to simultaneously come together. The root cause of these ecosystem issues is related to the fact that AR is very complex and data intensive. AR requires complex algorithms and real-time data transactions in order to seamlessly integrate with the user’s constantly changing real world experience. As a result, the following will become key ecosystem requirements for AR to get to the next stage:

1. Computational power– AR applications require complex algorithms to work but current devices – such as smartphones and kiosks – are not built to support these types of data-intensive applications. Hence, it will be necessary for the data processing to happen outside of these display devices

2. Real-time data transport back and forth– The key attraction of AR will be its ability to contextualise the user environment and render results/ information within that current real world context. But this will need large volumes of real-time data transactions between the user and the backend AR setup

3. Broadband bandwidth- A standard remote AR user will be sending large amounts of data to servers constantly, and will therefore need a high-speed broadband internet connection. Currently, the availability of broadband, upload/download speed performance and the costs associated with ubiquitous broadband access vary greatly across the globe. This will limit AR growth as users and application owners require affordable, “always-on” high-speed access

4. Security- Many enterprises would be keen to leverage AR, particularly in areas that could increase customer engagement, enhance workforce productivity and improve employee satisfaction. This will require the layering of corporate sensitive data on the AR applications, many of them running on the cloud. Hence, security will become a critical component that will determine the extent of adoption by enterprises

5. Making the technology scalable and more affordable- Lastly, there is the lack of a platform-based system that can allow more companies to leverage AR in more scalable and affordable manner

These requirements can be effectively addressed by the telecom sector as it has unique assets to enable widespread AR technology adoption.

In the next blog (and the last of this series), we will look closely at the role telecom sector can play in the AR space, and discuss some of the immediate opportunities it can capture.

How do you see enterprises adapting to deliver augmented reality? Let us know in the comments below.

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These are just a glimpse of the potential of AI on the smartphone. They are point solutions, bringing intelligence to single functions – guiding through a city or managing a diary. They can’t make connections or fully understand the patterns of your everyday life. We’ll see point solutions proliferate and spread in the next 2-3 years. It’ll be confusing and, again, not an ideal vision of AI. Alongside it, however, we’ll see a second pattern of AI services starting to connect. With connection will come cross-pollination and at that point we’ll begin to see a true AI appear on consumers’ phones.

That’s really where the opportunity of the personal digital assistant begins to emerge. This ‘true AI’ enabling consumers’ everyday lives will be a major asset to any brand that can become its chief provider, enabling access to huge amounts of data for service improvement, and new services.

At the moment, the natural owner of that experience is the brand providing the ecosystem – Google, Apple or Microsoft. Though Amazon is making its own play beginning with the home through Alexa. It won’t necessarily be just these providers who have the last word, however. Adoption of that complete AI will depend on cost, and how much personal information consumers are willing to put in the cloud and how they control access to it. Personal Digital Assistants of that depth will be data hungry. And to achieve the promise, that data just can’t be restricted to just one application or service. PDAs will rely on cross-pollination of services alongside deep access to a consumer’s data in order to enable the learning that makes AI intelligent and personalised to each individual user.

Neither of these are proprietary or even biased towards OS creators. In fact operators have the opportunity to introduce their own PDAs compatible with any platform (unlike those led by the OS) and underpinned by guaranteed performance at the network level. In a world of open APIs and standards, knitting together the services on a user’s phone into one single true AI experience becomes, relatively, the simple part of the offering.

While OTTs are ahead in the race to own the personal digital assistant, there’s no reason why operators couldn’t make the entire experience – from cloud to consumer – better. They own the usage data that will make AI smart, they can guarantee performance at the network level and they have the customer relationships to drive adoption.

AI is going to change the way people live, and, on the phone, operators have the opportunity to be the catalyst of that change. They should be getting into the race now to build their value to consumers, regain their footprint on the device and manage the demands it creates on the network.

It’s the consumer’s network operator that will need to work out how to deliver performance at a price point that consumers will stomach and also its opportunity. One slice of the wider challenge and opportunity that the rise of 5G and 5G based services will create for operators.

How do you think networks will adapt to accommodate AI? Let us know in the comments below.

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While we once worked in a business landscape that had a ‘rich North/poor South’ divide, international cooperation has been transformed, helping to bridge this gap. The dramatic surge and importance of emerging market multinationals is reinforcing this geopolitical shift even further, and certain markets have seen real rewards for it: China now dominates the top three spots of the Forbes 2000 list – a phenomenon that was almost unthinkable in 2003 when the first list was put together.

Importantly, emerging market multinationals have had to manoeuvre a very coloured business landscape, and drive growth in spite of an uneven policy roadmap. Their ambition and willingness to experiment with their customers and business models, create new economy frameworks and to discard when something doesn’t quite work, has proven to be a recipe for success.

These promising companies hold their origins in many different emerging markets, spanning many different industries. While the products and services on offer and the countries involved are diverse, they have the potential to take advantage of a unique opportunity, thanks to the rapid pace of technology innovation. Companies in China, India and many others have the chance to be the first to develop a host of emerging technologies. New infrastructure opportunities include distributed electrical power generation, development of clean water sources, and smart cities, facilitated by advancements in the Internet of Things. The ambitions for these markets are high, but early adoption of technology could help bring about competitive and economic advantages.

To help bring about these advantages faster, we are seeing initiatives such as Digital India introduced by governments in emerging markets. To illustrate, according to the World Bank, a 10% increase in mobile and broadband penetration increases GDP by 0.81% and 1.38% respectively in emerging markets. If Digital India succeeds in improving broadband penetration in the country (from around 7% today) by 50%, and mobile penetration in rural areas (currently at around 45%) by 30% in the next two years, this would increase India’s GDP by 9% – or $180 billion. The private sector clearly plays a central role in making this happen, so it’s encouraging to see Facebook launch its Express Wi-Fi scheme in India to bring internet access to underserved locations in the country.

According to the OECD, the number of people considered to be in the “global middle class” will increase from 1.8 billion back in 2009, to 3.2 billion by 2020, and 4.9 billion by 2030. It’s clear that ubiquitous connectivity and digital technologies are crucial for boosting the economic prospects of individuals, businesses, and entire communities, driving the growth of emerging economies in the global marketplace. For the “global middle class” to become a reality, it’s important that all emerging markets are nurtured and their ability to innovate and change is harboured.

With the help of advanced technology and infrastructure, policy makers and people’s innovative spirit, I have no doubt that emerging markets will rise to the challenge.

How do you see the digital revolution affecting emerging markets? Let us know in the comments below.

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The answer is the cloud. It is no longer an option but the option. It is imperative to adopt the cloud if you want to embrace digital transformation and enable more personalised customer experiences.

But not just any cloud will do. The ideal is a Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) model, with pre-configured systems and small management overhead.

As Ovum points out: “The industry-wide “move to the cloud” is not just about the location of the servers or the cost model. It is a recognition by many… that the operating environment has become too complex to manage effectively.”

You need to look for a technology partner who can deliver on the below.

Customer experience as the competitive edge: Is chat not engaging enough for customers? Try video chat. See if it appeals to your customers, and if it does roll out the service quickly. Similarly, you can personalise the experience and connect in different ways, depending on the value of that customer. For example, one multinational bank catering for high net worth individuals differentiated its services in a highly-competitive market by providing good quality video connections for customers to get advice from remote experts.

Integrated end-to-end SLA: An all-in-one contact centre platform, which is integrated and modular, allows you to tailor customers’ experiences at speed, and with a fully integrated SLA across geographies. Above all, it’s the perfect testing platform to discover the best ways to interact with customers – without having to commit to any upfront investment.

Quality of service: The quality of customer service ultimately depends on having a simple hosted cloud-based contact centre solution from a single provider, saving you the time and money involved in having to manage many suppliers.

Scalability and flexibility: Some peak demand times are predictable, like holidays and festivals, the summer travel season, and monthly billing cycles. Other traffic spikes are not so easy to prepare for. You need to have the flexibility to meet these fluctuations. With a hosted service you can distribute and balance workloads, providing the resilience and availability needed to support business continuity, while delivering a consistently good experience, wherever in the world your customers are.

Ultimately, you have to decide the best contact centre strategy to meet your business demands. But whether you build your own in-house facilities, or look for outsourced capabilities, there is one critical component that is indispensable to your success – an end-to-end SLA.

Find out more about how to realise your hosted contact centre in the cloud. This is Part 3 of a series of blogs on the topic of the contact centre: read the full series by starting with Part 1.

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I have watched the African market change dramatically over more than two decades. The arrival of new undersea cable systems on the East and West coasts of the continent in the late 2000s was a step change, but nothing compared to what we are seeing today.

At our recent Partner Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, the role of service providers in enterprises’ digital transformation was a hotly debated topic.

African enterprises are demanding that their service providers change and evolve to support this transformation. For service providers, this means moving well beyond the role of a basic connectivity provider, and expanding their offering to include a new suite of value added services, including cloud, unified communication and collaboration (UCC) and managed security solutions. This shift is a must for service providers.

Around the world, $1.3 trillion will have been spent on digital transformation initiatives this year, according to IDC. The research firm notes that 64% of organisations are just beginning their journeys towards digital transformation. Nearly a third are made up of so-called digital explorers, who still have some way to go in ensuring the integration and consistency of digitally-enabled customer experiences and products.

I see this as a huge opportunity for service providers in Africa. They need to rise to the challenge and help these digital explorers accelerate their journey towards greater digitisation. Only through becoming real partners for these organisations, can service providers ensure that they won’t get relegated to the role of a traditional A-to-B connectivity provider in an increasingly commoditised market. They need to bridge the gap between their old priorities and what their local enterprise customers want and need.

In a global survey commissioned by Tata Communications, we found that African service providers and enterprises don’t always see eye-to-eye in terms of priorities. Around 40% of enterprises say that cloud is their major area of focus at present, while only 10% of service providers rank developing their own cloud services at the top of their list of priorities. More than a quarter (29%) of enterprises say that managing multiple service providers is a significant challenge, yet only 10% of service providers recognise this.

On the other hand, 40% of service providers are focusing on enhancing their offering through solutions such as software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV). But, just a quarter (23%) of African enterprises see these technologies as a current priority.

To ensure that the solutions that service providers offer are better aligned with their customers’ requirements, they need to look again at their strategy, and become more flexible and agile.

For example, enterprises want to manage fewer service provider relationships. That means service providers need to extend their reach and expand their service portfolios.

Enterprises want cloud services spanning storage, compute, UCC, and cloud connectivity. They need a service provider that can take a consultative approach to enable them to capitalise on the many opportunities that the cloud can bring.

Crucially, enterprises want transformation to happen quickly. But, the breakneck speed of technology innovation means that the latest technology advancements represent uncharted territory for not only many enterprises, but many service providers too.

That is why I believe that, in order for service providers to be able to shape the future of their enterprise customers through digital transformation, they should look for strategic partnerships. Partnering with other like-minded service providers enables them to bridge the gap between their current offering and enterprises’ emerging demands.

The right partnerships will enable service providers in Africa and beyond to embrace the role of a ‘guide’ for digital explorers, and drive their growth in today’s rapidly evolving telecoms market.

To read more about bridging the gap and partnering to align with the expectations of enterprises download our whitepaper Bridging the Gap: Partnering to align service provider solutions with enterprise expectations.

In the meantime, leave a comment below. How do you think service providers can best support digital transformation in Africa?

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The teams are given four months to explore the topic — conduct market research, meet industry experts and hypothesise on future outcomes and impacts. For our moonwalk, the assigned topic was Augmented Reality (AR) with emphasis on business-to-business (B2B) applications. AR is being projected as the next computing platform with the potential to cause massive disruptions to many existing industries as well as create new ones in the process.

Just as we started our Moonwalk journey, the augmented reality based mobile game Pokémon Go hit the market, attracting millions of users throughout the world. While the game itself had basic elements of AR technology, the mass adoption of the app brought the conversation surrounding the potential of this new technology to the fore. It opened our eyes to the exponential growth opportunities associated with an easy-to-use, socially engaging AR app, and we started to debate what the future AR technology will look like, and what components need to come together to push it to the mainstream.

As we progressed, we became increasingly convinced that our telecom industry could play a pivotal role in underpinning the critical elements of the AR ecosystem to help it transition from its current experimental state to the mass market.

Why is the telecom industry so important to the success of AR?

One of our early revelations was that we needed to quickly distinguish AR from other versions of “reality” related technologies. Of all the different approaches that bridge physical and digital experiences, augmented reality holds the most potential for benefits across consumers, enterprises and different industries.

The primary reason is that AR, unlike VR, aims at enhancing the experience of the real world by combining digital information and media, which can be used across much wider spectrum of applications and use cases, exponentially increasing its likely impact. But, as we all know, the real world experience involves multiple changing scenarios and variables, and is compounded further by the unpredictability of user behaviours. This makes AR, in a full potential mode, extremely data intensive, requiring massive amounts of data processing being computed via complex algorithms. And all that in real time.

Despite the significant advancement in computing technologies in recent years, we are still a long way away from the level of real time data transactions – volume, speed, security – required for AR to reach its full potential. Even the Pokémon Go app, with basic augmented reality features, was mired in various issues such as network outages, hacking, and users complaining about phone battery life issues. Problems such as these are serious bottlenecks that threaten to limit the widespread development and adoption of AR technology.

But who is in a better position to address these challenges than the telecom industry? Only it can create the advanced network infrastructure and the platform based ecosystem to enable complex data processing, storage and transport that advanced AR applications will require. ICT service providers that recognise this opportunity early will also capture larger share of the financial benefits.

In the next two blogs, we will look deeper into the challenges facing widespread adoption of AR and how telecom sector can play an enabling role in the evolution of this fascinating technology.

How do you see AR shaping the future of entertainment and communications? Let us know in the comments below.

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We know that 87% of businesses have at least part of their infrastructure in the cloud, and Gartner predicts that 30% of enterprises will move to a software defined wide area network by 2019. That is why my answer has to be that in the age of hybrid IT, having a good IT services team is critical.

You might think that, with smarter technology that allows customers to self-provision and automate IT, less focus needs to be places on an IT services team. However, despite its huge business benefits, hybrid IT is ultimately much more complex for a CIO to manage.

The ever-deepening complexity can in some way be ascribed to growing user demand. Users are pushing to have access to applications in the same way as they are used to with their own personal IT, such as their smartphone, social media and mobile apps. They are accustomed to having workflow processes integrated into a single interface, and they want simple, intuitive user experiences. In their personal lives they have they have become used to steaming, downloading and uploading content on whole host of social media platforms without ever having to worry about capacity or performance. Users don’t always understand the complexity going on behind the scenes – the complexity of making enterprise IT work like Facebook.

Bring this into an enterprise and try to create a similar environment for raising tickets, for service delivery project management and fault management – it’s a whole new world, as we all know.

Cloud has made responding to these demands possible. With software as a service, you have the ability to quickly self-provision compute power. You can light up a new virtual machine and disk space in days instead of weeks, and respond to the increasing demands from users and the business. And this simplicity has now extended into the network space.

So with all this happening, service is critical in the complex age of hybrid IT. You can now serve your own business in new ways, but will you have to become a network professional to do so? Hopefully not. But if you select the wrong partner, you may find that you will have to understand the solution, cater for and manage the integration to a level you were not expecting.

So the CIO is sat there thinking, how do I make my users happy? How do I make them feel like they have a digital work environment? How do I manage the security, data and integration between what is in the cloud and premise based? How do I have the confidence to self-provision and manage without having to become a network expert?

What you need is:

1. Single point of ownership – central ownership to manage and troubleshoot problems in both your private and public cloud
2. Effective and rapid response – if IT services teams can see both private and public clouds, you will get improved communication and transparency
3. Stronger SLA commitments that you can pass into your organisation – something you should expect from any partner
4. Stronger operations support system and management capability – So, close orchestration

Let me expand a little further on point four – orchestration is not new. It’s configuration management and as a Service Provider, you have to be good at this anyway. Yes, SDWAN is about exposing certain interfaces to customers, and some people may suggest that you don’t need network underlay, you just have a box that works across the network that will route traffic on the fly. But it’s far more complicated than that. You need to have a real-time view of traffic, this is the key to understanding and managing policies. That should be done in a dynamic environment. You shouldn’t have to do this yourself.

As we move forward, having a frontline services team that has these hybrid skills is essential. The people supporting you need to have a good understanding of network topology, security and application layer – they need to bridge that gap between public and private clouds. They also need to understand virtual machine operating systems.

If you are looking for a services partner to join you on this journey – I would be say the word to look for is visibility. Visibility across both domains: a partner who knows the private cloud, and a trusted partner able to give you visibility into the public cloud.

How do you see the role of IT support changing as cloud becomes more widespread? Let us know in the comments below.

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For many people the Internet is simply a utility like electricity, a utility that we take for granted. With Internet Day taking place this Saturday, let’s take a moment to think about what it takes to let us live our digital lives. Crucially, with the continued emergence of new devices and applications which rely on Internet connectivity, will the Internet will be able to cope under the extra pressure?

Managing tens of billions of connections

From real-time analytics of supply chains to portable health monitoring, all IoT applications require superfast connectivity and an innumerable number of connections. In 2006, there were ‘just’ 2 billion connected objects. In 2020, there will be 50 billion – so around 7 smart objects for every human being on Earth. The amount of data traffic that these objects will generate could cause network-wide issues if things were to go wrong. As the IoT hype is starting to become a reality, policy makers need to start thinking about IoT traffic differently to traditional data traffic, due to the potentially disastrous consequences of a network failure.

Another connected technology in the headlines at the moment is driverless cars. Yet, for self-driving cars to become mainstream, there needs to be a deeper understanding of the demands that the data traffic generated by tens of thousands of self-driving cars will put on network infrastructures. The autonomous vehicles revolution will depend on the availability of ubiquitous, intelligent and highly robust networks underpinning the reliability of these vehicles.

The biggest bandwidth hog: video

The pressure felt by the world’s networks is not just about the volume of connections, but also about bandwidth. In 2020, every second nearly 1 million minutes of video content will cross the Internet. With more and more content being developed by the sports and entertainment industries for VR headsets, we’re set to see a 60-fold increase in VR traffic between now and 2020. One reason for this huge growth is that VR requires 5 times more bandwidth than HDTV. While companies like Tata Communications that operate the infrastructure behind the Internet have the bandwidth to support VR, home broadband often does not, leading to a jittery viewing experience. We need to see investments in very low-latency, high-throughput last-mile networks to cope with the demands of VR. Only then can users get the VR experience they expect.

Is the future wireless?

IoT, VR and autonomous vehicles are causing networks to increase in complexity, with wireless technologies layered on top of wired infrastructures. The seemingly ubiquitous nature of Wi-Fi and 4G – and soon 5G – means that for many, the future is wireless. But this could be stalled by the major investments from mobile operators required to roll out 5G networks, and subscribers’ reluctance to pay a premium for ultrafast 5G connectivity.

Whether Wi-Fi or 5G, wireless technologies will play a key role in delivering the next-generation Internet. In my view, even by 2020, when there will be more than 4 billion Internet users around the world, we will rely on wired connections, because fibre optic networks can carry far more data and bandwidth than wireless alternatives.

AI at the heart of the world’s Internet

Networks are getting hugely complex due to their global, multi-layered nature. AI will revolutionise network design, helping the Internet cope with future demands: machine learning will enable us to build faster, more efficient networks, and AI will maintain the network – analysing traffic, breaking up cyber-attacks and self-improving – as demands on the network evolve. By using AI, we will be able to predict Internet traffic flows around global sports events, and reroute traffic more effectively as needed.

To provide the critical connectivity foundations that IoT, VR and yet-to-be-invented Internet-enabled technology advancements rely on, there is a huge amount work going on in the telecoms industry. By rethinking how networks are managed globally, we can ensure that the Internet won’t buckle under the pressure of ever-growing volumes of data criss-crossing the world every second.

How do you see networks changing to accommodate the next generation of connected devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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That is the market we live in and should also be a wake-up call to a lot of service providers. Market dynamics have changed and service providers who don’t want to get eaten have to think about how they are going to move faster than competitors. Service providers so far have been keen to partner with consumer OTTs but not for enterprise services. That needs to change.

This is really a mind-set shift that will free service providers to look at where they can add value and where partners can strengthen their offering. It isn’t just about getting services to market anymore. Being faster than the competition will enable service providers to capture more long-term opportunities that will create profitable and sustainable businesses.

Throughout our Partner Summit Europe in Budapest, we heard service providers of all sizes talk about how partnerships are shaping their organisations. In different ways each of the participants discussed how they want to be:

• Faster to manage disruption – In today’s market disruption comes in many forms. New competitors, services and business models are changing the game for service providers. I think we all recognise this but what is important is how fast you can react to these changes. Disruption will hurt a business that is standing still. For example, new enterprise demand from cloud services can be quickly turned into an opportunity with a cloud-centric partner that can help a service provider rapidly monetise cloud.
• Faster to deliver for customers – Partnering can be a driver for a new kind of consultative selling. Service providers can select partners based on customer needs and the conversations they are having with enterprises. That takes immediate demand and matches with a partner’s capabilities to give customers the services they need. It laces together partnership strategy and consultative selling to deliver for customers faster than competitors.
• Faster to develop platforms and ecosystems for verticals – I see consumer ecosystems like Apple, Google Android and Facebook capturing users and there is very little churn between them. Service providers can learn a lot from that. When you develop and deliver ecosystems, you can cater for customer needs, ensure they depend on you and retain their loyalty. There is a real opportunity to plug in solutions provided by partners to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts. I think we’ll increasingly see this in the unified communications market where platforms can be developed to serve specific vertical requirements.
• Faster to co-create and deliver the future for enterprises – Enterprises want their service providers to do more for them. They want to see automated processes, APIs and self-service portals. Service providers need to find new approaches to delivering security, cloud and software defined networking (SDN) solutions. Partnering removes the barriers to making them a reality. It also positions service providers at the centre of the enterprise IT ecosystem. Collaborating and co-creating solutions ensures that service providers remain critical to the future of enterprise IT.

Each of these themes represents an opportunity for service providers to push their organisations to new places. They can find success faster when we learn, share and win business together. In this way, I see partner strategy creating the first-mover advantages of the future.

How do you see service providers seizing these new opportunities? Let us know in the comments below.

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As the Internet is run over different autonomous networks from different providers, it is not possible to guarantee enterprise grade performance. So, many enterprises subscribe to private wide area networks (WAN), linking together the various global strands of the business across different countries and continents to allow rapid and reliable engagement between data centres and branch offices.

Yet, having to rely on WAN connectivity can hold back an enterprise with international growth ambitions, as these private connections can’t simply be switched on in an instant. So, by the time a new WAN is in place, you will have to play catch-up with more agile competitors already present in that market.

Furthermore, any CIO will tell you that – as enterprises have become more and more reliant on cloud applications – maintaining a WAN has turned into an expensive and complex operation, exposing the limitations of these traditional private networks. Delivering a seamless user experience for employees and customers globally across a diverse infrastructure, spanning legacy systems, private and public clouds of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google Platform, can be a huge challenge. Traditional WAN architectures are simply not fit for the cloud. They are too slow, inflexible and expensive. And, as the public Internet can’t meet enterprises’ needs for secure, reliable and predictable performance, this has resulted in the need to have a network platform with predictability and end-to-end performance guarantees for access to business-critical cloud applications.

As the world moves towards the platform economy – fuelled by petabytes of data, powered by millions of applications, and underpinned by the cloud – ubiquitous, reliable, superfast connectivity that brings enterprises, their employees and customers together on a global scale becomes paramount. That is why we need to reinvent the network – only then will enterprises be able to grab their share of the growth opportunities that this new digitally driven, borderless, collaboration-focused economy brings.

Our game-changing IZO platform harnesses our unparalleled global reach, our partnerships with the world’s biggest cloud players and our cloud expertise to enable enterprises to detangle the complexity that a myriad of global connections, clouds and applications brings – and propel their growth in the platform economy.

We built IZO to offer enterprises the best of both worlds: the security and reliability of a private network, and the unparalleled reach and cost-effectiveness of the public Internet. Addressing our customers’ rapidly evolving needs for security, scalability and reliability across their IT estate, we’ve expanded IZO in the past year to turn it into a one-stop cloud enablement platform. IZO Private Connect, for example, enables enterprises to connect to the world’s biggest clouds using MPLS or Ethernet – bypassing the public Internet – to ensure maximum network performance. IZO Private Cloud, on the other hand, empowers CIOs to build a truly hybrid, high-performance IT infrastructure, where different cloud, colocation and managed hosting environments work together as one.

The strength of IZO lies in our global network, which enables our customers to reach 240 countries and territories, making up 97% of the world’s GDP. In fact, it is the only network of its kind that stretches all the way around the globe, and it carries almost a quarter of the world’s Internet routes. This means that via the IZO platform, CIOs are able to harness the full power of the Internet and unleash the growth potential that new markets bring through borderless, secure and scalable connectivity.

As enterprises look to deliver cutting-edge services to their tech-savvy customers, move into new markets, rethink their business models, and disrupt entire industries, CIOs need to enable digital transformation across the IT estate. With the pace of technology innovation and the data explosion showing no signs of slowing down, it’s time to ask: is your network propelling your growth in today’s digital platform economy, or holding it back?

How do you see the WAN landscape transforming? Let us know in the comments below.

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What drives development in the telecommunications world?

In a rapidly changing world where survival is at stake, it is a challenge to create value for customers and shareholders. Even though network-based connectivity is a common feature of the IoT, this does not mean that traditional telecom operators which build and run networks will see more revenue. Some will win and some will lose.

For the last 20 years, Strand Consult has examined how technological development, new business models, and distribution channels have changed the telecommunications world. Our reports describe the paradigm shift for the classic telecom operator which sold voice and SMS to one that sells broadband combined with new services. Over the last 20 years, this development has increased the value of the market and the size of the industry. Despite this, the telecommunications industry is under a lot of pressure. Yet, there are still countries and product areas with large growth potential.

In the past the value of the market was derived from services such as voice and SMS/messaging, and access to infrastructure. Operators were able to price services in a way that they covered long term network investment costs plus a healthy profit. But the Internet changed that. Now operators deliver third party providers’ services. People have switched to free communication services such as Skype and WhatsApp, and no longer buy voice or SMS subscriptions. In addition, the popularity of real time entertainment services like YouTube and Netflix has exploded, taking up more than half of all network capacity but contributing little to the cost of infrastructure.

On top of that, European regulators created a series of open access policies requiring that operators sell access to their networks at regulated prices. Operators cannot price or manage their networks with the same profitability as before. This double-whammy of technological change and regulation has reduced the incentives for investment in infrastructure. Since the dawn the Internet, only the media industry has been more disrupted than telecommunications, as online advertising on platforms such as Google and Facebook now exceeds that of radio, television, and print.

In the classic innovator’s dilemma, those operators with the least adaptability to change have been the hardest hit while those that have evolved their business have reaped the greatest financial rewards. For example, when small VoIP providers emerged, the Norwegian Telenor quickly moved to bundle unlimited talk with its broadband products, helping to stem the decline in voice revenue. In Denmark, operators bundled unlimited SMS into their subscriptions; this made free WhatsApp look less appealing. In the US, operators offered long distance and local calls for the same price to keep subscribers from defecting to substitutes.

The future service provider must be innovative and work with flexible partners.

European telecom operators face significant financial and regulatory challenges. It is not enough to launch new services. Operators must continually offer their customer a wide range of innovative and compelling services. However, it is risky and expensive for operators to design every service themselves. As our international research shows, the better strategy is to find partners that will create traffic on the network and then offer flexible business models. Not only can partnerships stimulate innovation, they add value to connected products and services, which are otherwise commodities. Such innovation offers potential for added value for traditional products such as voice.

I believe that only operators which respond quickly to the new disruptive reality will succeed. Operators need the right partner, a suite of innovative services, and flexible business models in order to deliver value to customers and shareholders. It is more important for operators to focus on finding the right partner rather than creating new services from scratch. A good partner will bring ideas and complementary assets to the operator’s value proposition of a network and customer base. Simply put, the telecom service provider of the future needs to find the right partners and build flexible partnerships.

John Strand will discuss the disruption of the telecoms industry at Tata Communications’ upcoming European Partner Summit.

How do you see traditional telecoms companies adapting to new technologies? Let us know in the comments below.

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Since then I’ve seen 1:32” scale model cities wherever the telecoms industry gathers. The function they serve is to show how 5G is going to change the world. How it will make transport easier, allow street lights to communicate and enable sports fans to get instant, multi-angle replays to their smartphone from the stands as the game plays out.

Truly, the telecoms industry is excited about getting 5G into the hands of customers and all the new services they’ll buy once they’ve been liberated from the limited speed and bandwidth of 4G. In Europe and the USA, operator strategies that are not built around bringing the holy grail of 5G connectivity to consumers are rare.

It strikes me, however, that we’re all making quite a bold assumption that consumers are going to take up 5G services the moment we achieve it. Will they actually do that? Probably not.

Our greatest guide to public reaction to 5G is, of course, the 4G roll out. 4G adoption was spurred by apps appearing on consumers phones and the world of new functions those apps introduced. The problem was that the apps kept becoming more and more sophisticated – graphically and functionally – and 3G connections couldn’t keep up. For consumers that created an easy choice – give up apps or upgrade to 4G. They chose 4G but then the financial jump was relatively modest.

Just like 4G, 5G will spur the introduction of new apps and exciting new functionality. Just like 4G, however, any new app or service’s magic will depend the connectivity behind it – so consumers will need jump to 5G to enjoy. Simple right? Not so much. The economics of providing 5G connectivity will make it difficult for providers to drive costs low enough to make moving to 5G more tempting than simply not adopting the latest app. Without mass adoption of 5G for big apps, we won’t see mass adoption of 5G.

Operators are already investing heavily to realise 5G and across the world governments are now beginning to auction the spectrum needed to deliver 5G services. That’s where the spending really starts. In many countries, spectrum space is highly stratified for different functions from radio broadcasts to emergency service and military communications. Certain services, particularly television, take up huge chunks of space limiting that available for the late coming mobile spectrum. The elimination of analogue television signal in favour of digital in many countries has freed up some spectrum but it remains limited and therefore valuable, particularly when sold by governments at auction.

If operators are spending huge amounts of money just for the spectrum space to provide 5G connectivity (far more space hungry than 4G), they will have to pass the cost on to the consumer or have margins deteriorate. Increasingly price sensitive consumers won’t stand for price rises and will instead stick with 4G. Instead, consumers will change their behaviours, picking and choosing which apps are stationary and which are mobile. Data hungry apps created for a 5G world (VR, AI, HD streaming) will be used when they are stationary and consequently able to use WiFi to take the data load, and the load off their pocket. Less data hungry apps will remain mobile.

5G will enable some great new services.  But I don’t believe the 5G roll out and adoption will be anywhere near as fast as the speed and bandwidth 5G promises to provide!

How do you see 5G reaching the mainstream? Let us know in the comments below.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been increasingly in the news.  In March Google’s DeepMind made headlines when the machine programmed to play Go defeated champion Lee Sedo by 4 matches to 1.   Amazon’s Echo and voice assistant Alexa has been widely praised for its voice recognition capabilities, and many people will remember how Watson handily beat the best Jeopardy players in the world.

Things have been changing quickly.

ImageNet is a cloud-based database of millions of images. Beginning in 2010 the ImageNet Challenge was established to see how well a machine would do at object recognition.  As a point of reference an average person will be able to achieve 95% accuracy.  In 2010 the winning machine could correctly label an image 72% of the time, by 2012 accuracy improved to 85% and in 2015 the machine achieved 96% accuracy. You’re starting to see some of this technology in consumer applications like Facebook: AI that can recognise and tag your friends and family when you upload photos, and systems that can describe the contents of photos for blind people.

So why have things been changing quickly?

First, we’re continuing to get more computing and more storage for lower and lower prices. Next generation compute and storage cloud services

can provide thousands of computers for an hour or for a day, flexible to users’ needs.  AI and machine learning software require lots of computing during the learning phase.

The second reason is the emergence of neural network algorithms.   Third, it’s not possible to apply these advanced AI technologies without data, and lots of data.  Consumer Internet companies like Facebook are able to use billions of photos to train facial recognition systems, while AlphaGo learned from millions of games of Go and Alexa learned on millions of voice patterns.

Although we’ll continue to see progress in replicating what we humans do, we have the opportunity to apply these technologies to even more important challenges.  Today many of the machines that generate electricity, transport goods, farm food, or sequence genes have large amounts of data.  If we were able to connect these machines and collect the sensor data from them we would have the opportunity to use artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to operate a more precise planet.  Imagine a future farm that can use fewer pesticides, which not only reduces the cost of the food but also makes it healthier. A future power utility could be based on a vast array of solar panels, wind turbines, small hydro generators and batteries to generate more power, much more efficiently. A paediatric hospital could share the results of millions of MRI scans and diagnose healthcare far faster.

So what if we could connect the Things from our physical world? What if we could couple large-scale compute and storage cloud services with the AI software we’ve been using to recognise photos or phone calls? Maybe then we’d be able to use machines to make our planet a better, more sustainable place and by doing so improve the quality of life for more of the world’s population by 2025.

What possibilities do you see in combining cloud and AI? Let us know in the comments below.

To read more from Timothy on the Internet of Things, try his new book Precision, available now from Amazon. 

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All of our attention up until now has been focused on Internet of People (IoP) software. Whether that’s an ecommerce, sales force tracking, recruiting or purchasing applications, the focus has been on applications for people. But Things are not people. This may seem obvious, but let’s discuss three fundamental differences.

More Things than people

• These days, you can’t be on the Internet and not see some pronouncement about how many things are going to become connected. John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco, forecasted there will be 500 billion Things connected to the internet by 2024. That’s nearly 100x the number of people on the planet.  Already large healthcare providers have many more machines connected than people.

Things have much more to say than people

• IoP applications are built around the idea that people will type, point and click. Things have much more to say. A typical wind turbine has over 200 sensors. An oil-drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico has 40,000 sensors.

Things can talk constantly

• Most of the data from the Internet of People applications comes from either encouraging us to buy something or making it part of the hiring process. In short, people don’t enter data frequently into an ecommerce, human resources (HR), purchasing, customer relationship management (CRM) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) application. On the other hand, a utility grid-power sensor can send data 60 times per second, a construction forklift once per minute, and the sensors on the artifice roof of a coal-mining machine is transmitting vibration data 10,000 times per second.

The first generation of enterprise application software from SAP, Oracle, Siebel, PeopleSoft and Microsoft leveraged the availability of low-cost, client-server computing to automate key financial, HR, supply chain, and purchasing processes. The business model was based on licensing the application software, with the purchasing company left with the responsibility (and cost) of managing the security, availability, performance and change in the software.

In 2000, the second generation of enterprise application software began. It was largely differentiated by a fundamental shift in the delivery model.  In the second generation, the software provider took on the responsibility of managing the software; and with that change also came a change to the business model. Rather than an upfront licensing fee, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model emerged, which allowed customers to purchase the service monthly or annually. You’ve probably heard of many suppliers from this era including Salesforce.com, WebEx, Taleo, SuccessFactors, NetSuite, Vocus, Constant Contact and Workday, to name a few.

As a result, most of the basic function – sales, marketing, purchasing, hiring, benefits, accounting – have been automated. While you can debate effectiveness, it’s largely a solved problem; however, these improvements in operational efficiency through CRM or ERP software are good, but hardly transformative.

Perhaps now, with the changing economics of computing, the continued innovations in communications technology and decreasing cost of sensors, we can move to the third generation of enterprise software and tackle the challenges of precision agriculture, power, water, healthcare and transportation, and fundamentally reshape businesses and our planet.

For more information about IoT and how it might reshape your business check out Precision: Principles, Practices and Solutions for the Internet of Things. The book contains 14 case studies and is now available from Amazon.

How do you see ‘Industry 4.0’ emerging? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Things aren’t people appeared first on Tata Communications New World.

Of those businesses represented, 80% have deployed artificial intelligence or plan to do so in the next three years, and more than half of delegates agreed their enterprises required an HR strategy to anticipate the replacement of humans with machines.  The discussion was as timely as it was important.

The outcome of the debate was that the jury is still out.  Are we heading for a world where humans are dominated by intelligent machines? This dystopian vision could not be dismissed out of hand. Even Ken Goldberg, world-leading expert in robotics and confirmed optimist, told us that today robots “can make mistakes and share what they have learned with every other robot connected to the cloud.”

Will the human race adapt to the disruption promised by intelligent technology as well as it did to the agricultural, industrial and digital revolutions?  Will new jobs – jobs we have not thought of yet – be created for all those people whose tasks can – and are being – replaced by machines?

Those that look at history see humankind’s inherent ability to survive and believe it will all be OK.  Indeed, the onset of intelligent machines is but another step in humanity’s quest for a better life and perhaps presages the utopia where humanity will flourish like never before.

Others hold that this step is something fundamentally different. Society has to find a new structure beyond capitalism.  The concept that all people can gain an income by creating value through work has had its day.

While the discussion flowed back and forth, there were two common area of agreement. Firstly, from the Emotional Intelligence side, society had to get a grip of the governance and ethics behind the development and deployment of intelligent machines.  All delegates agreed that as business leaders they had a role and responsibility in that process.

From the technology side, the consensus was the exponential increase in Artificial Intelligence in business and society is driven by ubiquitous high speed connectivity and the ability to store and process vast quantities of data.  Smart machines are really happening because of the Internet and the cloud.

It is one thing to provide the platform for a debate about Artificial Intelligence, it is another to provide the platform for the next chapter in the story of humanity.  I am both humbled and proud of Tata Communications role in both.

Where do you see artificial intelligence having the most impact? Let us know in the comments below.

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When such a diverse group of business leaders gather to discuss a topic so vital to our future, then we can be certain of some fresh and invaluable revelations. The building blocks of connectivity and cloud are already in place, and – as we heard from our own Sentient Technologies – AI is already changing industry dynamics from healthcare, to financial services, banking and retail.  However, AI is a part of a wider shift – in fact the biggest since the first industrial revolution – the emergence of the platform economy.

The new platform economy is where businesses prosper and grow by turning themselves into a platform upon which others can do likewise. They thrive by building and sustaining communities, rather than facilitating transactions. Companies like Uber and AirBnB are often quoted as the figureheads of this shift.  But with the user journey calling the shots, platform business models have now made inroads into all sectors and areas of life.

In the platform economy, anyone can innovate and succeed by building on the shoulders of giants. Increasingly, AI will provide another way to do this by simplifying and automating a host of functions – making it so much easier for innovators to operate and experiment with new and different technology.

At Tata Communications, we’ve spent the past few years building our own platforms. We’ve built out a community of partners around our IZO platform, and connected more than 70 countries around the world.  We are providing the means through which new innovations, including AI, can be pushed forward.  And of course, the platform upon with any modern business is built, is the internet.

In time, the biggest platform of them all will be the Internet of Things (IoT) network.  We are working across the Tata group in this regard.  For instance, we’ve worked with Tata Steel to create the first industrial wearable:  a watch for factory workers that provides critical real-time safety data. And we’re providing Bluetooth, WiFi and LoRa Wan to create an IoT platform for factory IoT.

I’m really looking forward to spending the rest of this week exploring the platform economy with our guests from the global technology analyst community. The Tata Communications Global Analyst Communications summit will give my executive team and I lots of opportunity to discuss the platform economy, and illustrate our play through the views and testimonials of global customers and partners for whom we are making it real. I look forward to sharing the innovation and technology that we’re employing to put ourselves at the centre of the platform economy, and to the opportunity to showcase the success of our customers and partners.  And I look forward to learning from other experts, and discussing what all this means for the future of business, society and our lives everywhere, every day.

For live updates from our Global Analyst Summit, follow #GACS16 on Twitter.

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