Page 4 - Vantage Point

Companies in APJ region continue to struggle with cyber security

Seventy-four per cent of those surveyed in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region face a significant risk of cyber incidents - closely aligned to the global average of 75 per cent - according to the second annual RSA Cybersecurity Poverty Index. RSA, the security division of EMC, announced the results of research that demonstrates how organisations in APJ investing in detection and response technologies are better poised to defend against today's advanced threats, in comparison to those primarily utilising perimeter-based solutions. More than 200 respondents from the APJ region participated in the survey. The findings showed that organisations continue to struggle with their ability to take proactive steps to improve their cybersecurity and risk posture. In fact, 70 per cent of APJ-based respondents had experienced cyber incidents that negatively impacted their business operations in the past year.Not surprisingly, only 23 per cent of those organisations considered their cybersecurity

Subtle growth in PC offers positive outlook to market in Q2 2016

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the overall personal computer (PC) shipment for Q2 2016 stood at 2.14 million units, implying a quarter-on-quarter growth of 7.2 per cent over Q1 2016 and year-on-year decline of 2.2 per cent over Q2 2015. According to Manish Yadav, senior market analyst, client devices, IDC India, the overall consumer PC market recorded 1.05 million units, a quarter-on-quarter growth of 14.5 per cent over Q1 2016. Consumer spending during the quarter remained lukewarm, but owing to seasonality it ended up with a positive momentum. With forthcoming benefits from the 7th Pay Commission and increased budget allocation for rural India, coupled with a good monsoon, the rural demand is anticipated to improve, while urban demand is picking up. HP Inc. reclaimed its top spot with an overall PC market share of 28.4 per cent in India. Dell captured the second spot with 22.2 per cent share and Lenovo took the third sport with 16.1 per cent share.

Charity and CSR are key issues for business people globally

Latest research from flexible workspace provider Regus reveals that charity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are key issues for business people globally. Workers report that faced between two similar job offers, they would be swayed by the company that can prove they are making a charitable contribution. More than half (53 per cent) of the respondents in India reported it is important to them that their employer is involved in charity work. In fact, CSR is also an area of consideration when choosing a place to work. A significant 35 per cent said when presented with two equal jobs, they would give preference to the more charitable company. Businesses with a proven involvement in society are thus better able to attract and retain top staff. Forty-six per cent of the respondents in India would like to be directly involved in their company's charity schemes, and 42 per cent wished to be better informed. Among other findings, 51 per cent respondents appreciate CSR initiatives, but

Indians gauging e-commerce sales to fix prices of used goods

OLX coined the term "brown money", while conceiving the first survey, to represent the value locked in unused goods gathering dust in homes

De-growth in external storage after telecom spending slows

The enterprise storage market was largely driven by banking, professional services and telecom organisations in this period

Companies unprepared for strains of more complex ransomware

So far in 2016, ransomware has become the most profitable malware type in history

More than 64 per cent Indians listen to FM radio every day

The increased acceptance of FM radio is attributed to the ease of access

People risks on the rise with growing global M&A activities

Thirty-four per cent of the sellers are finding more and more of their divestment resources are required to address HR issues

Airlines lacking in effective cash-flow forecasting solution

Over 90 per cent of airlines know cash-flow forecasting and working capital optimisation are priorities for their organisation, according to recent research by Sapphire Innovation. Despite that, over 70 per cent don't have an effective cash-flow forecasting solution in place. Sapphire Innovation's survey, carried out among 39 global carriers, also identified that nearly half of the airlines continue to rely almost entirely on spreadsheets to predict cash-flow, which is highly inefficient. Furthermore, over 70 per cent per cent do not simulate and predict when they could pay suppliers, or when they could and should collect cash from customers. Paul Smith Eldridge, general manager and president of Sapphire Innovation, said, "Manual cash-flow forecasting is highly complex, error-prone and very time-consuming. External changes such as fuel costs, foreign exchange fluctuations, and even the weather, compound the challenge. Having the right tools in place gives you access to accurate, automa

Asians spend more on in-app purchases than users elsewhere

Asian users spend 40 per cent more on in-app purchases than those in the rest of the world when taking into account all app categories, although North Americans spend the single highest amount in the shopping app category, according to a survey by AppsFlyer. In its State of In-App Spending report, AppsFlyer shows that iOS users spend nearly 2.5 times as much as Android users - $1.08 to $0.43 - in monthly in-app purchases per user, per app. In India iOS users spend approximately 5.5 times more than Android users - $1.12 to $ 0.20 - and iOS users are three times more likely to spend in apps than Android users. Only 5.2 per cent of the users spend money on in-app purchases globally, with 3.1 per cent in India. AppsFlyer's VP of marketing Ran Avrahamy said, "Our data shows that in-app spending continues to present a significant opportunity for app publishers and marketers. While only a small portion of users actually spend money on in-app purchases, developers and marketers can capitalise

Classrooms will make way for real-time video collaboration

Almost 42 per cent of respondents from Asia Pacific believed parents and students were demanding more access to content online

Everyday user without cyber protection open to data theft

Staying safe online is becoming an increasingly relevant issue, with 30,000 websites being hacked per day, according to Sophos Labs. Even large and secure companies experience data breaches; so an everyday user without any cyber protection - such as VPN (Virtual Private Network) - is open to data theft. NordVPN has outlined basic rules an Internet user should be aware of to stay safe online. They are: the first thing a user should see during any online transaction is whether the payment gateway has an https URL; avoid public Wi-Fi networks as they are hunting grounds for attackers and data snoopers who try to access personal information of users for their benefit; whenever a website requests for more information than is usually required, like one's social service number or any other personal information, it usually spells fraud; VPNs encrypt all the data one shares across the Internet on any website, and are the best mechanism to make sure data shared remain confidential; weak password

IoT goes mainstream as companies consider it critical to success

Eighty-nine per cent of companies investing in Internet of Things (IoT) have increased their budgets over the last 12 months, according to Vodafone's IoT Barometer Report. The survey, conducted by Circle Research and involving 1,096 companies across 17 nations including India, also found that 76 per cent of the surveyed firms believe that taking advantage of IoT technologies will be critical for the success of any organisation, while 63 per cent of IoT adopters are seeing "significant" returns on investment, up from59 per cent in last year's report. IoT investment now accounts for 24 per cent of the average IT budget, on a par with cloud computing or data analytics. The report also found that IoT technologies play a key role in mainstream business activities in an increasing number of companies. For example, 48 per cent of the companies interviewed are using IoT technologies to support large-scale business transformation, with the figure rising to 61 per cent in the Asia Pacific region

China, India identified as key markets for transport sector

The transport sector is looking at the Asia Pacific region as the key market for investment over the next five years, according to the seventh "The way ahead transport survey" from global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. China and India are the most popular jurisdictions for investment, followed by the US, with growth through consolidation viewed as the best investment opportunity currently, the survey says. While confidence among respondents from the aviation and rail industries is high, owing to lower oil prices, the availability of funding and the impact of infrastructure improvements, the shipping industry remains the least optimistic as a result of overcapacity in many subsectors of the market. Over half (52 per cent) of all respondents to the survey agree that a global recession poses the greatest threat to their industry. However, despite political uncertainty, most agree that the transport sector can expect to enjoy further growth over the next five years. Rising passenger numbe

For expatriates, Mumbai more expensive than Seattle, Frankfurt

Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, pushing Luanda in Angola to second position, according to Mercer's 2016 Cost of Living Survey. Zurich and Singapore remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Tokyo is in fifth. The survey, designed to help MNCs and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees, rated over 375 cities. Mumbai (82) is India's most expensive city, followed by New Delhi (130) and Chennai (158). Kolkata (194) and Bengaluru (180) are the least expensive Indian cities. Mumbai is ranked higher and more expensive than Seattle (83), Frankfurt (88), Canberra (98), Berlin (100) and Istanbul (101). Despite volatile global markets and growing security issues, organisations still leverage expansion strategies to remain competitive and to grow, said Ruchika Pal, India practice leader, global mobility, Mercer. "With a large number of Indian multinationals progressively expanding their footprint abroad, 70 p

Large authenticity gap between brands and consumers globally

There is a large "authenticity gap" between brands and consumers, with 75 per cent of nearly 12,000 respondents to a survey covering indicating that brands and companies have a credibility problem. The Authentic 100, an annual index of global brands ranked by consumer perception of authenticity, by Cohn & Wolfe featured Disney, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, Lego, Ford, Google and Coca-Cola among the top 20 brands. Among the key findings of the study are - high global cynicism (only seven per cent in the UK, France, Germany and Spain and five per cent in Sweden described brands as "open and honest"); privacy matters globally, "protecting customer data and privacy" ranked as the fourth most important attribute of authenticity today); the authenticity opportunity (nearly nine out of 10 consumers are willing to take action to reward a brand for its authenticity) and authenticity as a personal experience (consumers are looking for daily, real-life reminders that they can count on brands as mo

A majority of Indians find mobile advertising most annoying

Sixty per cent of Gen X, Gen Y and millennials in India are annoyed with mobile advertising and mark the ads as annoying and obtrusive, according to a survey by VoIP (voice over internet protocol) app Nanu. Approximately 52 per cent of the 3,735 respondents rated banners as least annoying, while more than 55 per cent felt pop-ups and video adverts were the most annoying form of mobile advertising. As any mode of advertising focuses on two factors - increasing sales and brand building - mobile advertising in its present form fails to address either as indicated by the survey outcome. It reveals that even though 46 per cent of those surveyed may click intentionally on banner adverts, 80 per cent still avoid clicking on pop-ups and video adverts. Moreover, about 75 per cent of them aired doubts about making any purchase decision based on mobile advertising. The survey hints at a status quo of the mobile advertising segment, which is battling annoyed and irritated consumers at the cost of

Non-cricket sports emerging as drivers, as sponsorship grows

Sports sponsorship grew in India by 12.3 per cent in 2015 to Rs 5,185 crore. This number is 10.4 per cent of the total Indian advertisement expenditure in 2015, according to a 2016 report on sports sponsorship in India that was released by ESP Properties - the entertainment and sports arm of GroupM and SportzPower. The report discusses the success of non-cricket leagues, fan engagement and how brands can maximise value from association with sports. It also examines how while cricket continues to be the biggest chunk in the sports industry pie, non-cricket sports are emerging as growth drivers. SportzPower co-founder Thomas Abraham pointed out that sports like kabaddi and football had massively increased sponsorship revenues in 2015, which also witnessed return editions of tennis and hockey events. As the Indian market opens up to new sporting leagues and new forms of exhibition, there is great interest in sports such as football, tennis and running. Brands that have made investments in

Cyber security vulnerabilities growing in India

Nearly eight in 10 information technology (IT) and C-suite business leaders experienced increased cyber attacks on their firms in 2015, indicating a rise of cyber security vulnerabilities in India, as highlighted by a study by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The study commissioned by cloud infrastructure and business mobility platform VMware Inc. The increasing cyber attack risks to Indian businesses can be judged from the fact that 33 per cent of the respondents surveyed expected to be targeted within 90 days - a number higher than the Asia-Pacific region. Thirty-two IT leaders per cent in India regard cyber security as their number one corporate priority, but only eight per cent of C-suite business leaders share this point of view. Similarly, while 36 per cent of IT leaders believe security budgets will greatly increase in the next two years, only 21 per cent of C-suite business leaders foresee likewise. The study suggests IT leaders must become more conversant with business risks a

Collusive fraud rates greater in higher growth markets

Higher growth markets like India, Latin America and the Caribbean exhibit higher collusive fraud rates as than developed markets like the US, Australia and New Zealand, where fraudsters tend to act solo, according to a KPMG international report titled "Global profiles of the fraudster". Sixty-two per cent of the frauds in India are committed in collusion, similar to global trends. Colluding fraudsters can inflict greater damage on companies than individuals. Fraudsters who collude tend to be senior employees who have worked at the company for longer than individual fraudsters. Globally, 35 per cent of fraudsters are executives or non-executive directors, compared with 23 per cent in India. The study shows the scourge of fraud continues to harm corporate reputations, with weak controls being seen as a growing problem and technology proving to be a double-edged sword that enhances the growth of fraudsters. It recommends using technology itself to fight the problem, awareness of business