4th WIITF 2014 –A Platform heralding new business ideas
The 4th Western India Information Technology Fair (WIITF), 2014 has set a new benchmark by successfully concluding an event dedicated to VARs recently. The event that managed to rope in some of the known and revered names in the ICT industry reiterated its commitment towards the VAR community in the country by conceptualizing a theme that best describes the current business model the VARs stick to - 'VARS ADDING VALUE TO THE IT PROCUREMENT PROCESS'. The invitees to the event included various IT honchos, industry leaders, VARs and senior officials from the Government.
Shri Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for the evening. The Lamp lighting ceremony took place in the presence of the Chief Guest besides other esteemed guests -Mr. Bimal Raj, CEO- Smartlink Network Systems; Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB LEAD-WEST- Microsoft Corporation; Dr. Harold D'Costa, CEO-Intelligent Quotient Security System; Mr. Sanjay Mehta, M.D.- MAIA Intelligence; Mr. Nityanand Shetty - Chairman, ISODA; Mr. Pramoud Rao, M.D.- Zicom Electronics Security; Mr. Chetan Shah, Chairman –ASIRT; Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA; Mr. Chander Purswami, M.D.- Connect Star Networks; Shri. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT and Ms. S Mohini Ratna, Editor-VARINDIA; Mr. Pravin Rege, Vice President-ICMAP India ; Mr. Rajesh Goenka, Vice-president- Rashi Peripherals and Mr. Sanjay Sehgal, VP- D-link India Ltd.
While addressing the audience, Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA stressed on the growing menace of Cyber-Attacks and how Cyber Security has become a necessity to contain such threats. “Security researchers at McAfee Labs identified 200 new malware samples or more than three new threats every second during 2013, with a marked upswing in point-of-sale attack vectors in the final quarter.”Sticking to the theme of the evening, ‘VARs Adding Value to the IT Procurement Process’, he further spokeon how VARs can add real value to every organization and make the whole procurement process much simpler and more cost effective.
Giving a perspective on what and how MAIT has contributed to the Reseller community, Anwar Shipurwala, Executive Director, MAIT pointed out two basic things important to operate in market - Market Acceleration and the ease of doing things. “We as an association have evolved with time and have become what is relevant today. We not only want to represent Manufacturers in the country but a Guardian representing the entire Hardware Syntel. Here, different IT Associations play a very important role. The 2 basic agenda I have mentioned can go a long way in getting together the fragmented IT industry together.”
Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director - NVIDIA in his speech shared his thoughts on the e-commerce business in the country and the challenges it throws up for the traditional resellers. “Today e-commerce presents business marketers with profound opportunities, including most importantly, reduced costs, access to new market segments and the ability to provide information on a continuous basis. However, e-commerce also introduces potentially significant challenges. Channel conflict is perhaps the most serious concern… and the advent of the Internet throughout B2B marketing has made managing channel conflict more important and complex than ever before.”
Dr. Harold D'Costa, CEO - Intelligent Quotient Security emphasized on the need to envisage a robust and agile Cyber Security Policy Guidelines“I am here to discuss a burning topic of 21st Century – Cyber crimes. In 2012, the total number of cyber crimes reported was 2900. If you look at the cyber crimes registered in Maharashtra, most of them were related to Social Networking frauds. Part of it was financial frauds. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have worked closely with Maharashtra Police and have experienced around 500 – 1000 cyber crimes myself. Last year there has been a steep rise in corporate frauds.”
In his speech, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra spoke about the negligence on the part of the Authority to contain Cyber security, “Whether it is in private corporates or government offices, people do not pay much attention to keeping a strong password. And when some confidential data gets hacked, the whole blame comes on the security system. ‘Jugaad’ w hich is an important concept among Indians comes to play here and it kills both quality and security.”
There were also presentations by Microsoft and Fortinet, where Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB Lead -West - Microsoft corporation spoke on how ICT act as an enabler for SMB that has long been devoid of technological advancements for fear of incurring technology costs in their organizations. Mr. Navin Mehra, Regional manager-West, Central & East India, Fortinet spoke on how to make Fortune with Fortinet and the both can be combined to avail the most out of it. They also spoke about their contribution in ICT and about the various solutions available which can be a big enabler in making IT accessible to everyone in the country.
The concluding part of the event was an interactive Panel Discussion that deliberated on the issue of rising clout of e-commerce marketplace and how its growth has impacted the business of brick and mortar stores. The foreign money that has flowed into Indian e-commerce also demonstrates the growing might of online sellers. It is a fact that e-commerce is eating into the retail pie of traditional retailers. It is the right time for traditional businesses to transform with the help of technology. E-commerce is the answer to beating big brands including multinationals. Successful businesses not only respond to their current customer or organizational needs, but often anticipate future trends and develop an idea, product or service that allows us to meet this future demand rapidly and effectively.
The discussion was moderated by Mr. Deepak Sahu, Chief Editor-VARINDIA. The Panelists who participated in the discussion were Mr. Chander Purswami, M.D.- Connect Star Networks; Mr. Rajesh Goenka, Vice-president- Rashi Peripherals; Mr. Sanjay Mehta, M.D.- MAIA Intelligence; Mr. ChampakrajGurjar, President- TAIT; Mr. Chetan Shah, Chairman-ASIRT; Mr. Nityanand Shetty - Chairman , ISODA; Mr. PravinRege,Vice President-ICMAP India and Mr. Sanjay Sehgal, VP- D-link India Ltd.
WIITF 2014 also took the opportunity to award and recognize VARs and VADs from the western region in different categories in the presence of the Chief Guest, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra.
AWARD WINNERS
Best Reseller, Western India | Maxtone Electronics Pvt. Ltd. |
Best VAR, Western India | Xpress Computers Ltd. |
Best Network Integrator, Western India | Sigma Byte Computers |
Best System Integrator, Western India | Pentagon System and Services Pvt. Ltd |
Best Service Support, Western India | Digicare |
Best VAD, Western India | Comguard Networks Pvt. Ltd. |
Best ITBrand, Western India | Gigabyte Technology India Ltd. |
Best Software Services, Western India | Orient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. |
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