Store as Fulfillment Center: Omnichannel and the Future of Retail

Omnichannel has come of age for brick-and-mortar retailers.

Traditional retailers have been on a slow yet steady adoption of digital technologies over the last two decades. First arrived e-commerce, which retailers took on as another channel for customer acquisition and sales. Coupled with this emerged online-only players opening up new avenues of fulfillment. Then came smartphones, setting a new paradigm of customer experiences.

Today, with the faster evolution of technology and ever-increasing consumerization, there is a demand for ultimate flexibility and innovation. Customers expect to be recognized and pampered, and they switch loyalty for the smallest of added perceived value – be it monetary based, convenience based, or experience based.

Brick-and-mortar retailers with an established national and/or international store network are specifically suited to meet the customers of today where they are – online, on mobile, in a physical store, or even in a subway station.  These phy-digital retailers can and must strive for true omnichannel – seamless, connected, and personalized experiences irrespective of how and where their customers shop.

 

The Potential of a Store

Despite the increasing adoption of digital shopping, it remains a fact that, for bricks-and-clicks retailers, over 90 percent of revenues are from their physical stores and the store, therefore, continues to be nerve center of operations. It is important to realize the true potential of the huge store network for such retailers.

Stores can transform to be experience centers for omnichannel customers. Here are a few solutions that can bring transformational experiences in-store:

• Experiential kiosks and digital displays
•  Digital signage
•  In-store IoT/ beacon-based personalized experiences
•  Customer engagement driven by data insights

Stores can be mini-fulfilment hubs, offering ultimate flexibility when it comes to delivery choices and saving a potentially lost sale. Examples of such initiatives include the following:

• Order online to pick up in store or at curb side, fulfilled from store or warehouse
•  Order in-store for home delivery, from a warehouse, same store, or another store
•  Order in-store for pick up from store, from same store or another store

When armed with right tools and technologies, store associates can be brand ambassadors, driving customer loyalty and improving customer retention. For example, when a store associate is asked a question about a salmon pink shirt that was found online but is not in stock in store, the store associate should be incentivized and have the tools to check inventories of nearby stores or the distribution center. Further, the associate should be empowered to take the order for shipping this product to customer’s home at no extra charge the next day.

It’s a no-brainer that omnichannel retailers must invest in technologies that deliver the data to drive store-transformation initiatives.

Implications for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers

For a complete omnichannel transformation to be successful over next two to three years, the foundation has to be strong. It starts with a data-driven, single view of the customer, orders, inventory, products, etc. and a scalable architecture to support dynamic changes in business.

• To enable an endless aisle of products not limited to a store’s physical space, a global product catalog should be available across channels, including your extended supply network and drop-ship vendors.
•  To enable stores to be fulfilment hubs, a real-time and reliable view of inventory data should be available across the entire supply network.
•  And for personalization to click, a 360-degree view of customers’ online orders, store transactions, social engagement, lifetime value, loyalty history including open orders, queries, and complaints is a must.

Orchestrate transformational customer journeys. Decoding retail customer journeys is the starting point to digital transformation. In the era of design thinking and customer experience, a new paradigm of solution design is evolving. Yes, there are beacons, there is big data, there is fast data, there are mobile technologies and cloud applications that promise Nirvana. However, to get transformational business outcomes, there is a need for careful curation of experiences.

Bricks-and-clicks retailers must orchestrate an end-to-end experience that is beyond a pointed technology solution to solve a particular problem like knowing what the customer did on the website or what she purchased in a store. It is about bringing all the insights and business states about products, customers, and even assets like dressing rooms to curate a new digital journey for the customer in-store.

Empower store associates. Retailers must realize the importance of their associates as omnichannel evangelists who can make or break seamless experiences for the customer. Initiatives to incentivize cross-channel “save the sale” behavior is one key paradigm shift that retailers must consciously undergo.

The store associate must be equipped with data on products available across different distribution channels and, to be credible brand advocates, also must be as knowledgeable as her customer. She needs the right technology to have access to meaningful insights on her customer in order to offer a personalized experience. Tools and technologies that can provide data that deliver in-the-moment, 360-degree views on customers, enterprise-level inventory data, mobile point of sale, and in-built intelligence to provide the right recommendations (product recommendations, substitutes, alternate fulfillment options, dynamic offers) are critical for associate empowerment.

The benefits of executing well on all the above initiatives are increased footfalls, increased conversions with a multiplier effect across channels and, most importantly, increased customer loyalty and retention.

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Why Retailers Should Recruit a Chief Omnichannel Officer Now

Thanks to modern technology and digital tools, the opportunities to interact with and buy from a brand today are ubiquitous. Customers want to shop anytime, anywhere. Omnichannel rules, and smart retailers are getting on board.

For the customer, the best of omnichannel creates a consistent and uniform experience across all touch-points — online, brick-and-mortar stores, social media, events, mobile and more — all the time. For the retailer, omnichannel reaches its pinnacle of effectiveness when each channel’s operations are connected at the back end and continuously provide integrated, customer-specific information coming into the organization. This highly valuable data can then be analyzed and acted upon, to build a sound strategy for new — and even more consistent — marketing and sales efforts going forward.

Transforming a multichannel entity into a true omnichannel organization is much easier said than done. It is a job that requires a dedicated, totally focused individual that has the responsibility — and seniority — to integrate multichannel systems (literally and figuratively) across all customer touch points: store operations, marketing, call center, and digital (which includes all forms of non-store-based commerce). This is made all the more difficult because traditionally — and naturally — most of today’s organizational structures have evolved into fairly ingrained silos.

A chief omnichannel officer can help a retailer go from silos to seamless. Here are the specific responsibilities the officer should tackle:

Eliminate silos

Customer touch points today usually exist in the store as point-of-sale systems, online as e-commerce systems and on-the-go as m-commerce platforms, the contact center, and other systems. Up to now, sales and other information has been collected and stored right back within the different system silos.

Retailers still getting used to multichannel efforts have traditionally kept channels independent of one another. This approach is fine, but does it really provide a true picture of how r customer interacts with a brand all the time? A savvy chief omnichannel officer will eliminate silos and integrate all channels at the back end to then take the next step: making the most of data that is generated by the customer.

Get the most out of customer information

To turn customer data into real information assets in aggregate, a central repository that can syndicate useful product information back out to the various channels must be created, and that is one big job. Today, disparate CRM systems are left struggling to get a single, consistent view of the customer. Customer information is one of the most valuable of assets in retail but it in a multi-siloed organization this data is rarely utilized properly.

The lifeline of a truly effective omnichannel experience is data that is integrated in terms of every customer data touch point, and that means integrating existing systems without minimizing each systems’ effectiveness, which is a tricky IT challenge that should be up front and center to a chief omnichannel officer.

Get staff on the same (omnichannel) page

Technical problems apart, siloed skills among staff create their own issues. Disconnects exist between a retailer’s business and technical staff. Open conversations that focus on people, processes and technology are rare between the chief marketing officer and CIO.

Separate heads for all functions — marketing, finance, merchandising, HR, stores, etc. — all report to the CEO or president. As a result, very few people have a holistic understanding of the business, much less what it takes to create an omnichannel presence. What’s more, most high-level, C-suite executives are too tied up with other business issues to commit to the kind of focus necessary to drive the creation of a functioning omnichannel organization.

A key responsibility of an omnichannel officer should be to drive — from a senior level — a commitment to omnichannel throughout the organization, oversee accountability in that commitment, and ingrain omnichannel into the company culture. Change is hard, but breaking silos to achieve synchronization, alignment and ownership among staff is paramount.

The omnichannel chief must encourage active involvement, monitoring, facilitation and support from channel leaders. To do this and communicate effectively with function heads, the officer must have an understanding of all customer touch points, the organization’s holistic business needs, and a direct reporting status to top leadership.

Be interested in revenue generation

Transformation into an omnichannel organization might come faster if, besides managing the development of strategies that integrate the company’s systems, people and activities, the chief omnichannel officer takes on somewhat of a P&L role.

When recruiting for the position, discuss the possibility of responsibility for revenue generation activities along with a reasonable share of the profitability. In the ideal scenario, the chief omnichannel officer will look after the execution of omnichannel and will also be responsible for the ROI on marketing investment. In that way, he or she can inseminate an organic acceptance of omnichannel best practices across all departments, while at the same time encouraging digital growth in such a way that it doesn’t affect current high-performing channels.

No doubt, the idea candidate needs to be one talented and well-rounded individual. Someone with strong digital marketing experience and exposure to other key business functions is a good place to start, and should enable the individual to grow into the role properly in a short period of time.

Simply put, transforming an organization into an omnichannel powerhouse is an exercise in managing change. Placing the right person in charge near the top of your organization will make it clear to all that it is an initiative to be taken seriously. Setting the right tone with all stakeholders will speed sincere acceptance and motivate everyone to deliver. If a retailer can achieve this, the company is on its way to converting your investment in omnichannel into tangible long-term results and strategic market advantage.

Salil Godika is co-founder of Happiest Minds, a next generation digital transformation, infrastructure, security and product engineering services company. With 19 years of experience in the IT industry across global product and services companies, he previously was with Mindtree for four years as the chief strategy officer/M&A and held P&L responsibility of an Industry group. Before Mindtree, Salil gained 12 years’ experience in the United States working for various software product companies large as well as start-ups.

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Web Summit 2015: The 3 Day Tech Event Wraps up

Amidst the incessant rain, the amazing Tech event- Web Summit 2015 was wrapped up on 5^th of November at Dublin. The 22000 tech enthusiasts including me are returning back to our home countries with mindful memories of insightful tech talks and the networks that we built during the last three days. Web Summit is shedding its Irish roots and will be moving to Lisbon next year. Yet another significant announcement by the organizers was that 10000 female Entrepreneurs will be given free tickets in 2016 across conferences in US, HK, India, Lisbon. The Indian chapter of the conference is called Surge and is scheduled to be held at Bangalore on February 23- 24, 2016.

Coming back to the third day tech talks. The 3D Printing technology, Virtual reality and smart umbrellas took the center stage, on Day 3. Multiple vendors have showcased the 3D printing technology in the booths. An interesting start up “Oombrella” showcased their product of the same name, the first smart & connected umbrella, which falls on a kick starter and collects weather data and sends real-time alerts for the users. The umbrella is connected to a smartphone app. The app gives rain alerts for the day, and if you accidentally forget your umbrella behind, the smartphone will begin buzzing with a message from the umbrella with its GPS location. The “Myo Armbands” from Thalmic labs also caught audience attention. Myo works on an intelligent combination of motion sensing and muscular activity and enables muscle activity in the arm to control a range of devices.

The best startup of 2015 was awarded to Connectera, an Amsterdam-based startup’s product which can analyze real-time movement data of cattle to help improve farm productivity. Bizimply, a cloud-based software-as-a-service business that provides workforce management software to businesses with hourly paid employees, also got the startup award at the Web Summit 2015.

Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios and the New York Times best-selling author Dan Brown were the two personalities who got greater audience attention on the closing day. Catmull closed the Web Summit to an absolutely jam-packed RDS main hall.

In a nut shell, with more than 22000 tech enthusiasts from 134 countries, 21 different mini-summits, 1,000 speakers, 2,141 start-ups and 1,000 investors, the greatest tech festival on the planet marks its end here in Dublin. I am bringing back many invaluable contacts and networks worth building future business opportunities to Happiest Minds, the next generation Digital Transformation Company which I represent. A big bye to all my new friends and the bustling RDS venue, Dublin. A big “Thank You” to the Web Summit organizers for giving me this wonderful opportunity, to be a part of Web Summit 2015.

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Web Summit 2015: The Tech World Musings From Dublin

Grown from the 400 attendees five years back to the current 22000 tech enthusiasts, the Web Summit 2015 continues to deliver innovative ideas and fascinating thoughts to the tech world gathered at the bustling RDS venue, Dublin.

Cars and technology took the center stage on day 2. Augmented reality, Virtual Reality, Drones, and Wearables were also some of the key highlight topics that seized the audience attention on day 2. Check out some of the most interesting tech talks from day 2 at Dublin. Ford chief executive Bill Ford, pointed out the promising intersection between cars – an industry that has been “revolution- resistant for a hundred years” - and technology. He added that Ford is redefining itself as a “mobility company” with an interest in autonomous driving, net-connected cars along with data collection and analytics. Sean Rad of Tinder, the CEO of location- based dating app highlighted about the data that drives it and the future of the platform. On a lighter note, he added that the Irish user base was extremely active on the app.

The most exciting part of day 2 was the live demonstration of a drone that flew into the center stage by Randy Braun of DJI- a World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters. The tech enthusiasts including me curiously heard that DJI along with Humanitarian UAV Network uses their drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAV’s for a wide range of humanitarian and development settings. Google showcased its famous virtual reality platform ‘Google Cardboard’, basically a cardboard case for smartphones that works in conjunction with compatible apps for projecting 3D images or videos. The wonders of the virtual reality did not ended with Google’s Cardboard. Columbian company Protesis Avanzadas showcased a 3D robotic prosthetic hand, an affordable multifunctional prosthetic hand that can replicate many of the grip patterns of the human hand, in the summit center stage. The Head of Adtech at Facebook, Dave Jakubowski took to the Marketing Summit- the state of the industry, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in the digital age.

All the tech talks surrounding Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Machine Learning reminds us that we are swiftly moving into an age of transformation, where the bridge between the digital and the real world slowly blurs out. All these technology advancements also hold the great potential to redefine the existing business models. As a part of a digital transformation company Happiest Minds, which is strongly focused on the new age disrupting technologies including IoT, Big Data, M2M Learning, Cloud and Mobility, I strongly feel that very interesting days are coming ahead in terms of technology as well as the customer experience.

Anticipating more exciting and insightful talks and demos from the Web Summit 2015 stage, on the closing day, 5th of November. Stay tuned.

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5 Drivers for Securing The Internet of Things

If you have any doubt at all about the impact of the IoT, consider these facts: 75 percent of the world’s population has access to a mobile device. When you compare the number of connected devices in 2009 (0.9 billion) to the number today, it represents a 30-fold increase. It is estimated that over 26 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020.

Along with the massive growth of IoT is the growth of corresponding security issues. As connected devices increase, so does the amount of data generated and transferred by these devices. As more data is transferred, the number of pathways and parameters for the cyber criminal to exploit also increases. It all adds up to the need for more protection than ever before.

Vital role of the CISO

As the world of IT security transforms to meet this exponential growth, the role of the CISO becomes vital in terms of defining the IT security strategy.

Before IoT, the IT and Operational Technology (OT) layer were controlled and secured differently; IT security focused on the confidentiality of data and network infiltration, while OT security emphasized physical security, safety and business continuity. Now that more devices are connected to the internet, the OT layer has become increasingly IP enabled, making it more vulnerable. Traditional security models must adapt, and the CISO must create a unified IT security strategy.

Attention to the following key drivers will assist the smart CISO with devising a strategy that truly works in securing the IoT:

1. Layer visibility. The OT layer, the IT layer and any other layers of the network should have visibility and be encompassed by an overall, unified security plan of action. No layer or device should be exempt.

2. Threat visibility. New devices mean new loopholes and threat vectors. A sound strategy should take into account not only existing vulnerability, but potential vulnerability, as soon as a device is connected to the network. A real-time threat assessment and definition that works around the clock is key to preventing new attacks.

3. Platform visibility. The creation of a monitoring apparatus that is agnostic is vital in today’s software platform environment of continuous updates, open source and self-imposed redundancy.

4. Network encryption. Point-to-point and point-to-multipoint encryption should be based on network segments, network protocols and network flows. In other words, internal networks in their entirety must be encrypted to ensure security long term.

5. Automated remediation. The end-goal of IoT security should be an approach that requires no human intervention. Automated, immediate security control utilizing machine-to-machine intelligence is a key to not only a successful, but also cost-effective unified security strategy.

IoT growth poses challenges for the forward-thinking CISO as scale increases, scope broadens and the need for cohesive cooperation increases. Those who consider the above drivers can develop a security strategy that will address these challenges and pave the way for the organization to take advantage of the opportunities the IoT also brings.

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Key Security Tactics to Help Protect Your Business from a TalkTalk hack

Isaac George, SVP & regional head of digital transformation company Happiest Minds UK, discusses the increased number of security threats UK organisations are exposed to following the TalkTalk hack.

Cyber crimes are not only occurring with mounting frequency in today’s wireless world, but they are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread.

Just this month, major UK telecommunications, internet access and mobile network services company TalkTalk was the latest in a long line of brands to face media scrutiny after its website was breached by a significant and sustained cyber-attack.

The company said it was “too early to say” how many of its customers had been affected by the attack but credit card, bank account details, names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses and telephone numbers could all have been accessed.

With a criminal investigation now underway, it is not yet known what the nature of the attack was, although early insight suggests that it may have been a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, where a website is hit by waves of traffic so intense that it cannot cope.

However, a second school of thought believes that the DDoS attack may have been a smokescreen to distract the organisation’s defence team whilst the cyber criminals set in practice their real objective of stealing data.

Should the second school of thought be accurate, this may even have been an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT).

What sets Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) apart is the nature and scope of the attack as they stealthily exploit vulnerabilities over a period of time.

Gartner puts it simply:
‘Advanced’ means it gets through your existing defences.
‘Persistent’ means it succeeds in hiding from your existing level of detection.
‘Threat’ means it causes you harm.

Once inside the network, APTs move around surreptitiously, seeking out sensitive data rather than disrupting systems and raising red flags.

These attacks are well coordinated and have very specific objectives that target key users within the organisation to gain access to high-value information – be it top-secret military or government documents, trade secrets, blueprints, intellectual properties, source codes and other confidential information.

The worst part is that no organisation, irrespective of size or type, is immune to these attacks.

What is clear, whether it turns out to be DDoS, APT or another means of cyber-attack, the bottom line is that many of today’s businesses are relying on basic security defences like firewalls, anti-viruses and spyware that are dealing with APTs, and other means of attack, conceived years ago.

Which means it is only a matter of time before our traditional cyber security systems will be faced with the next generation of attacks and it is unlikely that they will succeed.

It is now imperative to develop a layered security approach that will amp up the security arsenal with a 360 degree visibility into all corners of the network.

Forewarned is forearmed – Key elements to APT defence

Unfortunately, there is no magic wand to combat APTs. The stealthy and random nature of APTs makes it a daunting task to predict attacks. Daunting, but not impossible.

The time has come for organisations to move beyond a perimeter-based ideology to a more comprehensive and multi-layer security approach that ensures continual protection even in the case of a breach. The critical elements to a successful APT defence lies in an intelligent combination of defence, analytics and a proactive incident response plan.

1. Know what to protect

The first step in any APT defence strategy is knowing what assets to protect. Once this data is sorted and classified, it provides a bird’s eye-view of pieces of your infrastructure across storage, security and accessibility across devices and endpoints.

2. Assess your security loopholes

The next step is to identify and categorise the most-at-risk information systems and high liability assets that link back to critical data. Assessing these systems enable us to prioritise protection and remedial plans against potential vulnerabilities. It is especially important that risk assessment is an on-going process to keep abreast with the ever-evolving threat landscape.

3. Shore up monitoring and detecting capabilities

Comprehensive monitoring off all inbound, outbound and internal traffic network is imperative to contain the scope and impact of a potential attack. Additionally, advance detection and real-time analytic tools in conjunction with traditional security solutions enable organisations to identify malicious activities as and when they occur.

A truly effective solution lies in the ability to differentiate normal and anomalous traffic patterns or activities generated by any IP-based device that connects to the network. By applying threat intelligence through analytics, these real-time insights allow for immediate isolation and remediation to stop the attack in the early stages.

4. An informed user is a safe user

The fact that APTs are often employed in the form of phishing emails, employees are the most susceptible targets. It does not take much to trigger a malicious code through an enticing link or attached file.

Security education and training makes employees aware of the potential security pitfalls of BYOD and cloud services. It also places some level of responsibility on the employees themselves to ensure that sensitive data remains secure.

5. Put an APT incident response plan in place

It is absolutely vital for an organisation to have a carefully crafted and up-to-date incident response plan in place.

It helps guides the organisation in quick identification and response in controlling a potential breach. This is what ultimately determines the effectiveness of the organisation’s response to an attack.

Staying ahead of the APT curve

The complex nature of APTs pose huge challenges to our standard security defence systems. On the flip side, they provide a much-needed impetus to reassessing frameworks and utilising solutions that are scalable to protect the entire organisation.

This latest attack against TalkTalk’s website is a huge wakeup call to the business community at large around the perils of delaying taking positive action against cybercrime. Is it not easy to secure your business against every type of attack, but the fact remains that a multi-pronged and layered approach to security is no longer an option but a must-have.

If you need convincing, you only have to look at the huge financial and reputational losses that will ensue for TalkTalk.

Isaac George is the SVP and regional head at infrastructure, security and product engineering services company Happiest Minds UK

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Our Primary Focus is Disruptive Technologies

Happiest Minds is a next-generation digital transformation, infrastructure, security and product engineering services company, with 100+ customers and 1600+ people, spread across 16 locations. Happiest Minds’ philosophy is simple - 'Happiest People make Happiest Customers'.

In this interview for the Design in India series, Babu K C, General Manager and Head, Hardware Practice, Kiran Veigas, Associate Director, Corporate Strategy and Marketing, and Divya Sasidharan, Engineering Manager, from Happiest Minds, talk to Dilin Anand and Priya Ravindran of EFY.

Q: Could you introduce us to Happiest Minds?
A: Happiest Minds is the youngest information technology (IT) services company in India. Having started about four years ago, today we have 1600+ people catering to more than a 100 clients. Our geographical focus areas are the United States (US), Europe and India, in that order. Like the company name suggests, our vision is to keep the employees and customers the happiest.

Q: What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?
A: Hardware practice at Happiest Minds works on all the phases of a product design from concept to production. Given the high-level requirements of the product, we work with the customer to understand their needs and arrive at the specification document, after weighing the viable alternatives. Once the specifications are approved, we go about the product drill, from design to testing and certification, till the product is ready for manufacturing.  Having the capability to offer a turn-key product solution, involving hardware, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), firmware, mechanical design and application software is our unique selling proposition.

Q: What are the niche technologies you work on?
A: Our main focus has always been disruptive technologies. About 85 to 95 per cent of our work revolves around this and that is how we bring about a paradigm shift in the way we think and the way we execute. Next-gen technologies like big data and analytics, cloud, mobility, middlewareare all part of this package.

Q: Your speciality is disruptive technologies. Do you have a separate team for this?
A: Our three business units are Digital Transformation & Enterprise Solutions, Infrastructure Management & Security Services and Product Engineering Services.

Digital Transformation group enables organisations to make a tangible impact in areas like customer experience, business efficiency and business innovation, by taking a disruptive approach in building platforms, integration, processes and insights.

Infrastructure Management and Security Services group helps organisations to improve agility, flexibility, security and interoperability of the enterprise infrastructure for next generation digital transformation.

Product Engineering Services is focused on four specific domains. They are the Enterprise Domain that caters to enterprise independent software vendor (ISV) customers, Customer Platforms focusing on e-commerce, media and entertainment, Internet of Things (IoT) focusing on industrial, automotive and building automation, and Data Center Technologies (DCT) focusing on software-defined networking and data centres.

Q: Could you take us through the post-production support you offer?
A: Post-production support becomes very important as there could be changes coming in at the component level or even from the customisation front, after design closure. Over the last few years, post-production support has become a lot easier with the fabrication house also experiencing a variety of designs. Today, it is not always required that the engineer has to personally go and interact with the fabrication house; a lot of it can be done remotely.

Q: How would you go about telling your clients what you do?
A: We go by experience. Having worked in this field for about four years now, we have loyal customers who come back to us for their next product. They also spread the word, and the references increase our customer pool. Also, with the slowly increasing trend of research and development teams facing the media, thought leadership at events and technical publications, the 'getting-to-know' part is becoming a lot easier.

Q: Tell us about a few of your projects.
A: We have done several processor board designs in the past, mostly based on Intel/ARM processors. Recently, we designed an ARM-based storage server that was quite interesting and challenging too. The interesting part was that it was powered using a 64-bit octa-core ARM processor, a new entrant to the server family. This is a multi-processor system that uses peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) Gen 3 technology for interconnections to numerous boards.  Currently, we are designing a similar system based on Intel Xeon and Atom processors for micro-server applications, which uses high-speed technologies such as PCIe Gen3 and double data rate fourth generation (DDR4) memory modules.

Q: Could you tell us about your work in the industrial domain?
A: Another interesting area is industrial automation and control. We are presently working on one such system for controlling heavy machinery. The system will have precision sensors that sense target parameters like position, velocity, direction and temperature, which are then compared with pre-set values. In the case of a deviation from the desired outcome, the system has to take corrective actions like varying the speed or updating the position of the tool.  The precision and timing required to realise such a system is utmost challenging as everything has to happen in real-time, not forgetting the fact that it has analogue, digital and high-voltage signals, all running on the same board. So, the choice of the processor becomes extremely critical. To guarantee real-time performance, we are using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for some of the critical paths such as proportional integral derivative (PID) loops, high-speed counter interface and analog-to-digital converter/digital-to-analog converter (ADC/DAC)  interfaces.

We have also worked on other single board computers (SBCs) targeting industrial applications based on high-end Intel processors.  We are looking forward to working on more such challenging projects from the industrial domain.

Q: What about your interests in the test and measurement (T&M) sector?
A: We have been working on an array of T&M boards dealing with high-speed interfaces like serial-attached small computer system interface (serial-attached SCSI), PCIe Gen4, serial advanced technology attachment express (SATAe), universal serial bus (USB) 3.0, DDR4 and a variety of form factors ranging from small form factor(SFF)-based storage devices to small-outline dual-in-line memory module (SODIMM), unregistered dual-in-line memories (UDIMMs) and a few custom form factors targeting specific end-customers. These boards tap high-speed signals from live systems-under-test and are expected to induce minimal noise into those systems. The main challenge here is the speeds at which these interfaces work and the kind of signal integrity (SI) that has to be achieved. During design, these boards are run through multiple levels of SI simulations to ensure that the highest level of signal quality is achieved. In many cases, the high-speed traces are exposed, so as to have minimal propagation delay through the printed circuit board (PCB). Sharp bends are not allowed on these traces, and instead, arcs or curves are used. Back-drilling technique is used to make sure that the stub length on these traces is a bare minimum. In short, the layout of these boards demands the most stringent constraints.

Q: From a PCB perspective, what are the factors that determine signal integrity?
A: The choice of materials used to fabricate the PCB and even the type and quantity of solder used to assemble the components can create an impact on the signal quality and these are very carefully selected.

Q: Talking about boards for T&M equipment, how do you go about testing those boards?
A: Simulation rules the roost here to arrive at the best design. First, a golden board is arrived at, which behaves exactly the way we want it to. All other boards are then tested against this board.

Q: Tell us what you do in the IoT arena.
A: We have a separate practice for IoT projects.  We are already developing new IoT products and also adding connectivity to existing products for our customers. We do all the building blocks for IoT including the hardware, firmware, mechanical enclosure, cloud interface and complete product compliance certifications, and deliver ready-to-manufacture designs.

Q: What is the most exciting IoT project you have worked on?
A: We worked on a lighting control solution project recently. Instead of walking to the switchboard and manually turning on/off lights, you operate it via a mobile phone. You can also access your lights remotely from anywhere in the world, as long as the devices are connected.

Q: How do you see the growth of independent design houses (IDHs) in India?
A: India-based product design houses have a good future. There is a lot of untapped potential for services companies offering hardware/firmware design services. There are several players in this field already, but there is space available for more.  India is traditionally known for software outsourcing, but our hardware or complete product design capabilities are not well-known as it is not marketed well like the software. I think people should come forward and start new ventures to offer product design services for India, as well as for global clients. There are challenges like lack of component industry in India, complicated customs rules and related delays in importing parts, but these can be solved with appropriate help from the government.

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CeBIT INDIA 2015

CeBIT INDIA 2015

Date: 29- 31 October 2015

Venue: BIEC, Bengaluru

CeBIT INDIA 2015: New Perspectives in IT Business. Discover Digital Business Solutions Marketplace.

Happiest Minds is an Exhibitor at the World’s leading Business IT and ICT show – CeBIT!

Business is going digital, with traditional processes and business models now undergoing massive digital transformation. At the event, experience the ‘Digital Marketplace’ and understand what new technology can do for your business, discover early, talk to technology innovators & solution providers at CeBIT INDIA 2015!

Visit us at Hall-1, Booth A-23 to experience Digital.

Puneet Jetli– CEO, Digital Transformation and Enterprise Solutions(DT&ES) Business will be in a panel discussion on "Diconomy - The shared economy - making it all work together" on 30th Oct from 11:15 AM to 15:15 AM.

For more details click here http://www.cebit-india.com/

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