The 10 most innovative agile solution providers 2018

Building Simple, People-Oriented Solutions
Software Solutions:
Akash Agarwal
Co-founder
Sahaj Software Solutions
Industry Insight
Data Center Security:
Controlling Possible Threats
Key trends that are
driving transformation
in saas
Editor’s Pick
September 2018
www.insightssuccess.com

Agile Innovations:
Making Industrial
Processes
Signicantly Faster
As globalization and digitalization have increased, companies are effectively responding to the
quick change in market requirements and the development of new business methodologies.
Currently, companies are relying on agile innovations to methodize their process, development, adaption
of new technologies, and introduction that significantly increase overall process faster. In today’s industrial
scenario, agility is becoming important in order to develop high technological dynamics with the correct
implementation of agile innovation management in various companies. These innovative approaches have
proven their positive effect on the profitability as well as the competitiveness of a company.
Agile innovation management is the unified process which needs agile corporate culture to emphasis the
process effectively. Its methodologies are slowly gaining acceptance and creating different business
models day by day.
Innovation is what agile is all about. Although compared with traditional management approaches, agile
management approaches offer number of major benefits to business process and aid to successful results. It
increases team productivity and employee satisfaction. The entire process helps to improve changing
customers’ priorities along with customer engagement and satisfaction which brings valuable products.
Henceforth, Insights Success has shortlisted, “The 10 Most Innovative Agile Solution Providers 2018”
which are redundantly contributing towards various industrial trends aided with disruptive and innovative
agile solutions.

On the cover, we have encompassed, Sahaj Software Solutions a premium software consulting and
development company which believes in simplifying complexity. The firm with its advent of
technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning, holistically thinks about
providing a simple solution. The firm believes that every complex problem has a simple solution, and
its passionate and experienced teams are well poised to find that solution. Sahaj is the company
which is redefining the way software is being developed. It is creating newer and faster ways of
delivering software projects without any boundaries.
Further, we have featured CodeFirst, a leading software development company based in the city of
Exeter in the U.K which gives businesses instant access to the industry’s foremost software
developers. It also excels at outsourcing services such as customized business software development
and application maintenance, DevCom, a reliable software development company comprehends what
its clientele values in the services it provides. Its custom software development is based on the latest
software technologies adjoined with solid quality assurance, PractiTest, a leading company
revolutionizing in technology and methodology that offers Application Life Management and a
Cloud-based Innovative Test Management tool. The firm also provides an end-to-end Test
Management tool which offers a common platform for all stakeholders in an organization, Zen Ex
Machina, a professional management consulting company that specializes in digital transformation,
agile coaching, and personnel training across government and commercial entities. The firm helps the
government and corporate world improve their digital products and services by using Agile, Lean and
UX techniques.
Apart from this, our in-house editors have also written masterly-crafted articles named “Key Trends
that are Driving Transformation in SaaS” and “The Emerging Cloud Security Solutions and
Challenges Ahead”.
So, let’s start flipping the pages of the magazine to acknowledge the firms that are simplifying the
processes.
Happy Reading!
Bhushan Kadam

Building Simple,
People-Oriented Solutions
SahajSoftware Solutions:
Cloud Insights
Using AI to Automatically
Optimize Cloud Costs
16
36
26
46
Digi Transformation
Decoding Digital
Transformation
for Utilities
Tech Perspective
Rising Mobile Workforce
and its challenges in the
Mobile-Cloud era: Data &
Endpoint Management
Tech Outlook
The Evolution of Testing:
Unmatched Acceleration
with Fifth Generation
Automation
08

Key Trends that are Driving
Transformation in SaaS
Editor’s Pick:
22
28
40
34
CodeFirst:
An Innovative Software
Development Enterprise
20
Wireless Charging: Future
of Green Automotive
Recharging Environment:
42
Articles
30
PractiTest:
Transforming Test
Management Tool to
the Next Level
Zen Ex Machina:
Leading Large Organizations
with Business Agility
DevCom:
Delivering Distinctive
Software Solutions Globally
Industry Insight:

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Corporate Ofces:
September, 2018
Database Management Stella Andrew
Technology Consultant David Stokes
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Research Analyst Patrick James
Steve, Joe, Alan, Binay
Anish MillerManaging Editor
Art & Design Director Amol Kamble
Associate Designer Sanket Zirpe
Visualiser David King
Senior Sales Manager Passi D.
Business Development Executives
Marketing Manager John Matthew
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Sales Executives
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Executive Editor Bhushan Kadam
Contributing Editors
Kedar Kulkarni
Ishan Mittal
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal

Building Simple, People-Oriented Solutions
‘‘‘‘We firmly believe that every problem,
when observed and understood in its entirety
can be solved with technology in a simple and
effective manner.
Software Solutions:
Cover Story

Akash Agarwal
Co-founder
Sahaj Software Solutions

Sahaj Software Solutions is a premium software consulting and development
company which believes in simplifying complexity. It reeks of brilliance in
whatever it does. Sahaj’s culture has redefined how people interact and mingle
with each other. The solutions that the company thinks, designs, and provides to its
clients are way different and simple. Currently the organization has a very simple
but tall vision. It envisions being one of the most disruptive and innovative,
consulting services company globally.
Also, according to the organization, in the last few decades, the entire
software industry has undergone a massive change and the basic tenet of
the industry, respecting humans is forgotten and Sahaj was started with a
simple notion to reduce human exploitation in a corporate setting,
practices like open salary, profit share, unlimited leaves, no roles or
grades, no employer – employee construct, are just a few steps to
redefine a new way of working.
An Experienced Leadership
The very foundation of Sahaj rests on the shoulders of
its Co-founders, Akash Agarwal, Sunder Malyandi,
Rohit Bansal, and Nitin Dhall. Prior to
Co-founding Sahaj, Akash was responsible for
leading an 800+ person strong organization
named ThoughtWorks India within the
capacity of a Managing Director and COO.
As part of his tenure there, Akash was
hugely successful in setting strategy,
streamlining operations and improving
profitability manifold, all the while
adopting an open, collaborative
style of leadership. Before
joining ThoughtWorks, Akash
played various technical and
leadership roles at HCL,
Infosys and Aditi
Technologies.
Akash holds a Bachelor’s
degree in Engineering from
Nagpur University. He is
deeply passionate about
sustainability on earth,
specifically around sources
of renewable energy. The
best part is that the
founding team of Sahaj
brings with them 100+
years of collective IT
consulting experience. A large
part of it is in agile consulting
and enablement and not only the
founding team, but the entire
consulting team at Sahaj has extensive
agile Software development and
consulting experience.

Refining People Interaction
Sahaj’s atypical culture has redefined how people interact
and mingle with each other. Not just this, but the solutions
which the organization cultivates and provides to its clients
are distinctive yet simple. The company believes when
people are not bound by the employer – employee
construct, or constraints of roles, grades, position,
promotion and above all maximizing profit, then the
outcomes are unimaginable.
The organization also prefers to provide absolute freedom
to think and speak, be it within the team or with the client.
Absolute transparency and openness, allows each employee
to have a candid conversation with its clients and question
them with a clear intent, resulting in creative outcomes.
Complete ownership and the ability to act like a CEO,
allows Sahaj’s team to not only own and be accountable for
the decisions within the company, but also for the
project/product design and decisions the company makes
every day.
By having such a crazy culture, Sahaj has eventually helped
its clients to think out of the box and innovate. The culture
of extreme ownership and transparency backed by sheer
passion, has led to the creation of a unique method of
delivering software development projects. Sahaj has helped
its clients to cut process wastage by more than 50%, there
by achieving a much faster time to market.
A Distinct Organization
Sahaj believes that, software development world is
changing pretty fast. With advent of technologies like
Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning,
problem solving has become quite complex and seldom do
service providers think holistically about providing a simple
solution. This is where Sahaj’s basic principle of simplicity
stays true to its values and develops products by retaining
simplicity. Designing simple solutions is not easy and needs
extensive understanding of the technology space. It is an art
and to master the art, an organization needs a team of expert
artists who are passionate about solving complex problems.
Sahaj believes that every complex problem has a simple
solution, and its passionate and experienced teams are well
poised to find that solution. The organization’s hunger for
designing simple solutions using distributed computing,
cryptography, micro services, machine learning and
artificial intelligence is insatiable and it is always looking
for more.
Prioritizing Compassion
Sahaj was started with a very simple notion, to reduce the
exploitation of human brain. The organization also believes
that the software industry has grown in leaps and bounds,
which has reduced the real value of humans. The
organization also believes, nowadays leaders have started
considering humans as machines, and have undermined the
human emotions. Treating people like a resource and
creating specialized departments like Human Resources to
deal with their problems, is a huge disrespect. However,
Sahaj respects human emotions and the power of human
brain. It believes if an environment of openness, freedom
and empowerment is created, then human brain can do
incredible things and achieve unbelievable results.
The company believes in promoting human interaction
more than documenting things. Not only its projects but
also its practices across the organization are based on this
principle. Sahaj has faith in encouraging behaviours where
the guiding principles are understood by everyone and the
implementation is left on to the individual. This also allows
people to ask more questions and get more context rather
than reading a document and drawing boundaries around
what is written. The organization prefers to tell stories
rather than prescribing things.
Overcoming Travails
The biggest challenge that the organization derives in the
agile world currently, is of understanding what ‘agile’ really
means. As agile software development becomes more
mainstream, organizations and project teams are forced
more and more, to adopt agile practices. As a result of this,
the time and efforts needed to understand why agile, and
what is agile, is lost. Today, teams and organizations are
spending more time in ticking the checkboxes and
becoming agile compliant on paper. However the reality is
very different, if one does an in depth study of the practices,
then surprising practices like waterfall-agile will come to
the fore.
‘‘‘‘We help our customers make appropriate
technology and process choices.

‘‘‘‘We are changing the way organizations
leverage technology.
Sahaj likes to call these practices as ‘waterfall-agile’ because people are trying to use the same
waterfall practices but bringing all of them in a two or four week sprint. So on paper it is agile
because there is a sprint cycle now and other agile practices like stand ups,
showcases etc. are being conducted. However in reality it is actually a waterfall
methodology with a shorter cycle.
Sahaj has also witnessed few situations at many client places and it is
much tougher to bring in a change at such places, than traditional
waterfall teams. Even on the development side practices such as Test
Driven development, pair programming etc., are widely abused and
people ends up checking the boxes without understanding those.
Foreseeing Newer Horizons
In the last 4 years of its perseverance, Sahaj has evidently made its
mark in the APAC market. Right from developing a large scale
education platform, to designing a disruptive clinical trial process
management product using Blockchain, Sahaj has been at the
forefront of designing and implementing solutions using new age
technologies.
Recently, the organization has expanded its operations in the US
market and has established two offices; one in Bay Area and the other
in Raleigh North Carolina. The organization’s focus is to perform
local work in areas of cryptography, Artificial Intelligence and
Machine Learning. Currently, Sahaj is looking to increase its global
footprint and having creating a foothold in Europe and Asia Pac in
the near future.
Sahaj is the company which is redefining the way software is being
developed. It is creating newer and faster ways of delivering
software projects without any boundaries. Sahaj thinks there is always
a simpler way of solving problem and one has to use that thinking in not
only solving software problems, but also in conducting organizational
design. By keeping the information hierarchy flat in an organization one can
get rid of many evils and can create a diverse culture in an organization.

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CORPORATE OFFICE

Management BriefCompany Name
CodeFirst
codefirst.co.uk
Graham Church
Founder
Codefirst is the leading provider of Agile custom software
development in the UK.
DevCom
devcom.com
Slavik Lavryk
CEO
Devcom is a reliable software development partner for clients
worldwide. The company comprehends what its clientele values
in the services it provides.
Mastek
mastek.com
John Owen
CEO
Mastek is the trusted partner for digital transformation projects.
Agile solutions for enterprise with end-to-end digital services
delivered by experts.
PractiTest
practitest.com
PractiTest is leading the revolution in technology and
methodology offering Application Life Management and a
Cloud-based Innovative Test Management tool.
Sahaj Software Solutions is a premium software consulting and
development company which believes in
simplifying complexity.
ThoughtWorks is a leading company provides software design
and delivers pioneering tools and consulting services.
Trigent Software is an early pioneer in IT outsourcing and the
offshore software development business.
W3villa Technologies is a software development company with a
special focus on start-up and growth companies.
Zen Ex Machina (ZXM) is a professional management
consulting company that specializes in digital transformation,
Agile coaching, and personnel training across government and
commercial entities.
Raman Technologies
ramantech.com
Sandeep Nindra
CEO
Raman Technologies is an international agile & management
consulting firm that helps companies implement Blockchain
strategy, innovate, and deliver value to the market and
their customers.
SAHAJ
sahajsoft.com
Akash Agarwal
Co-founder
ThoughtWorks
thoughtworks.com
Guo Xiao
CEO
Trigent Software
trigent.com
Chella Palaniappan
VP-Client Services
W3villa Technologies
w3villa.com
Ishank Gupta
Director
Zen Ex Machina Pty Ltd
zenexmachina.com
Mia Horrigan
CEO
Yaniv Iny
CEO

The birth of Spotinst: Rising cloud costs
Today, there is a similar revolution beginning in the
world of cloud computing. One still in its early stages,
but seemingly destined to grow just as quickly as AWS.
“Spotinst aims to be the largest provider of cloud
infrastructure without running any servers,” says
Amiram Shachar, CEO & Founder of Spotinst. The
statement is bold on its own, but when you dive a bit
deeper, not much bolder a claim than had you asked
Andy Jassy the same back in 2003.
Just as Jassy found an internal struggle today, Spotinst
began with Shachar’s identification of a problem at his
company, then Lycos Global Group. As Director of
DevOps, Shachar was pressed with the task of migrating
all Lycos’ servers to the cloud, but costs quickly jumped.
“Within a couple of months of moving to the cloud, our
costs had actually risen dramatically, way beyond any
calculator that we used to predict it” continued Shachar.
“To the point where we were actually planning to move
everything back to on-premise.”
Just around that time, Shachar encountered the relatively
unused offering at AWS, called Spot Instances. Spot
The Birth of Cloud Computing
Back in the early days of cloud computing, if we would
tell you that every business and consumer would
eventually be running their entire compute and storage
infrastructure digitally, we would sound crazy. But just
17 years later, it seems inevitable that the old world of
data centers and on-premise servers will go the way of
the physical newspaper and radio.
Indeed, even Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS, didn’t envision
this future back in 2000. At the time, Amazon was
simply struggling to scale despite hiring a lot of new
developers. Jassy, who was Amazon’s Chief of Staff at
the time, dove into the problem to discover that the
hardware and infrastructural needs simply were not
being met fast enough. Jassy set out to speed up this
process internally, allowing the internal R&D team to
access a pool of common compute and storage resources,
making it easier for each to launch their own projects
without needing to deal with the underlying
infrastructure. Eventually, at a team summit in 2003,
they realized this was a need for every other company on
the planet, and so AWS was born.
Using AIto
Automatically Optimize
Cloud Costs
|September 2018|16

Amiram Shachar is CEO & Founder of Spotinst,
which leverages excess cloud capacity to
help customers save ~80% on cloud costs.
Before Spotinst, he was Director of DevOps at
Ybrant Media and led the Israeli Defense
Forces migration to the cloud.
Amiram Shachar
Chief Executive Ofﬁcer
Spotinst
About the CEO
Cloud Insights
|September 2018| 17

ensure that your applications are always running on the
most cost-effective servers, given your performance
requirements. Instead of exploring the long list of
alternatives within and across the different cloud
providers, Spotinst will take care of it all under the hood.
Today, their platform recognizes any workload that could
be run on a cheaper server. Just put those workloads
under Spotinst’s control and their algorithms will take
care of the rest - those workloads will forever run on the
cheapest servers available. All without compromising
performance or availability.
Using a new Serverless offering, where developers can
simply write code without dealing with any of the
underlying infrastructure, Spotinst aims to deliver on this
promise in a major way. “All you should ever have to do
is write code,” says Shachar. “Our algorithms will make
sure it is always running on the most cost-effective
infrastructure, across all cloud providers, for your
performance and availability needs.” In other words, just
write the code, and Spotinst will make sure it always
runs at the lowest cost possible for your performance
needs.
As Shachar says, “In 10 years, just as everyone is
making the shift to cloud today, they will be making the
shift to Serverless computing. Only with Spotinst, they’ll
be able to also ensure they are paying the best possible
price, all without doing anything.” The promise of
companies all running a perfectly optimized cloud
without ever dealing with the infrastructure seems bold.
But as we learned from Jassy and AWS, in another 10-15
years, it may just be an inevitability.
Instances were spare server capacity at AWS, cleverly
packaged to enable monetization of these servers. AWS
offered these idle servers for massive 90% discounts
with one major caveat - they’ll kick you off once a
customer wants to pay full price for those servers.
Shachar smelled opportunity. “By building algorithms
that could predict the spare capacity terminations in
advance, we could then migrate to another spare server
beforehand, saving us 80% on our cloud costs.” After a
few months, Shachar and his team were running nearly
75% of their compute power on AWS spare capacity. Just
like Jassy back in 2003, the lightbulb eventually went off
- there was a far larger opportunity at hand here.
The virtual cloud: run code without dealing with
cloud providers
“All companies running on cloud struggle to keep costs
down,” Shachar says. “But with a long list of priorities
including security and maintaining site reliability,
DevOps teams often don’t have the time to do all of the
work required to optimize cost.” But while Spotinst’s
first product was aimed at helping companies reliably
leverage spare capacity to reduce costs, Shachar and his
co-founders, Liran Polak and Aharon Twizer, had a
bigger vision.
Today, managing cloud infrastructure has become just as
complex as running on-premises. With a plethora of new
AWS, Google, and Azure offerings launching every
month, along with an increasingly vast list of companies
that build off these offerings, figuring out the balance
between cost and performance is a major challenge. But,
Shachar envisions a world where you don’t have to.
The promise of the virtual cloud
The promise of Shachar’s vision is simple at heart - a
virtual cloud. Spotinst will leverage machine learning to
|September 2018|18

CodeFirst:
innovative and value-added services while reducing
operational costs.
Most companies outsource software development to
subcontractors or acquire readymade products from third
parties. One of the most prominent names in this sector
is CodeFirst, a leading software development company
based in the city of Exeter in the UK.
CodeFirst gives businesses instant access to the
industry’s foremost software developers. It also excels at
outsourcing services such as customized business
software development and application maintenance.
Many of the world’s most reputable brands, including
Dell, IBM and Medtronic rely on CodeFirst’s range of
products and services every day.
Software Development Strategy
CodeFirst wants to bridge the gap for companies that can
beneﬁt from a customized software solution but do not
have the resources necessary to deliver a quality solution
in-house.
Their development methodology is a customized form of
Scrum, characterized by one-week sprints that deliver
working software to stakeholders as often as possible.
The Kanban visual system is used to manage the
workﬂow within each sprint while the end of every sprint
CodeFirst:
An Innovative Software Development Enterprise
S
oftware systems facilitate the automation of
business processes across the world, and in
virtually every industry. Their widespread appeal
stems from the inherent ability of software to provide
Graham Church
Founder
|September 2018|20

is marked by a retrospective to
discuss possible improvements.
Clients have unfettered access to the
data at all times and are encouraged
to get involved in Agile activities
such as addressing the product
backlog and prioritizing stories.
CodeFirst has also created
PlanITpoker, a revolutionary system
for estimating backlogs. It was
released for general use and has now
emerged as one of the most popular
Agile estimation systems, used by
thousands of developers worldwide.
Founder’s Journey
Graham Church is the Founder of
CodeFirst. He established the
company in 2012 but has been part of
the software development industry
for over 20 years.
In that time, Graham delivered
custom software solutions across
several industry verticals for clients
that include Pfizer, Sony Ericsson,
Prudential, ABB, and Lycos. Prior to
CodeFirst, Graham worked as a
consultant helping businesses to
create and scale development teams.
CodeFirst initially comprised a small
but experienced team of software
development experts. The first 8
years were marked by a series of
challenges, which Graham concedes
were difficult to overcome. However,
he also acknowledges that those very
challenges helped to transform
CodeFirst into the powerhouse of
innovation it is today.
Key Methodology
Agile software solutions lie at the
core of CodeFirst’s methodology.
technology at all. The company
tailors its procedures to each one,
balancing the need for their
comprehension of the process
without overwhelming them with too
much information.
To improve collaboration and
communication with their clients,
CodeFirst has created a range of
tools that range from simple
dashboards with key project metrics
to custom integrations with clients’
proprietary development systems.
One of the essential differences
between CodeFirst and most of its
competitors is that it actively shares
its internal systems with its clients.
By foregoing secrecy in favor of
transparency, the company creates an
environment where clients can learn
to control and accelerate their
progress towards their respective
goals.
Having worked with companies of all
sizes, ranging from startups to blue
chips, CodeFirst has experimented
with dozens of different software
development methodologies. This is
unusual for the industry and is a
testament to CodeFirst’s commitment
to flexibility; if a client wants to
work a particular way, they are
always willing to adapt.
CodeFirst’s Strategy for the Future
CodeFirst will continue to
experiment, refine, and adapt its
existing Agile development processes
with new tools and methodologies.
Part of this evolution includes the
design and improvement of its own
tools, some of which will be released
for general use like PlanITpoker.
The company has created and honed
its own development system through
the knowledge and experience gained
from working on so many diverse
projects. Thousands of developers
use Agile tools created by CodeFirst
every day to manage their own
projects.
CodeFirst believes that tightly-
controlled short sprints are the
lynchpin of its record of delivering
versatile software that works as
promised. This approach contributes
to superior control over project
development and enhances the
company’s ability to identify and
address shortcomings or bottlenecks
before they develop into critical
issues.
Perhaps most importantly, the sprints
allow CodeFirst to gauge project
velocity accurately and enables
clients to track progress in near real
time.
Those clients include both
software/IT professionals with a
good understanding of Agile and
others who are not familiar with the
We Build Software
that Keeps Up
with the Pace of
Your Business.
‘‘‘‘
|September 2018| 21

Key
SaaS
SaaS
SaaSTrends that are
Driving Transformation
in
|September 2018|22

SaaS or Software as a Service is a current phenomenon
in the world of technology nowadays. It is an on
demand, cloud-based delivery model for software
applications. Over the years, SaaS has grown quite steadily.
However, these solutions are becoming more and more
popular nowadays, thanks to the advantages of cloud
computing and rage of benefits it offers. When it comes to
SaaS, a service provider hosts the application at a remote
location, and the user can access that by using a web-
browser. With the years to come, usage of SaaS is only
expected to grow even further. So, here we are listing out
few trends that can eventually shape the industry later on.
Considering the effectiveness of SaaS, it has grown ahead
itself to something new termed as XaaS model (Everything
as a service). Nowadays the majority of manufacturers and
channel partners are using pay-as-you-go models to
compute their organizations as they welcome the latest
technology through cloud based services. It is believed that
XaaS will bring more innovations to cloud-based
businesses.
According to the latest industry trends, few organizations
are trying to migrate their data to cloud software and
platform services. However, few of the companies are
seeking for service resolutions in order to merge within the
current infrastructure to make it better. With the presence of
legacy systems and concerns related to data security, the
responsibility completely lies on SaaS MSP, when it comes
to full integration without leaking any critical data.
With the constantly evolving technology market, soon
DaaS (Data as a Service) will have a significant presence.
The main idea of DaaS is to help organizations with the
wide variety of cloud based data at very minimal cost so
that organizations can become smarter when it comes to
decisions related to strategy planning.
Security will play a very important role in the upcoming
days. With the rise of smartphone users, now cyber
offenders have multiple entry points for security breaches,
exposing personal and enterprise networks. As mentioned,
remote working exposes employees to public open spaces
with unencrypted networks making them more vulnerable
to various threats. Nowadays malware can be injected in all
kind of devices, which can eventually intercept the
transferred data leaving more to be protected. So, with more
and more innovations one can easily expect increased
security solutions in the upcoming years.
Soon smartphone-friendly apps are going to be norm in
the industry. Thanks to the growing usage of smartphones
and tablets amongst the employees and customers.
According to recent survey, 35 percent of respondents said
that they are planning to increase spending on mobile
systems in 2017, among all the respondent’s 10 percent are
currently beta-testing apps and 21 percent are looking to
add team members with mobile application and device
management skills. With the growing usage of mobility,
organizations are saving costs, and now they can work
remotely and can increase customer response time.
Artificial Intelligence will play a big part soon. Last year,
Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Siri's Macbook debut
brought AI personal experience within reach of people. The
same trend can be anticipated this year when home
enhancement and simplification is the key trend. For
example, there will be developments in everyday activities
such as switching on lights, opening, and closing of garage
doors, switching sir conditioning on and off, etc. All these
will be possible with the help of a smartphone.
According to a recent study, till date, more than 75 percent
enterprise don’t possess a complete organization cohesive
cloud strategy. Without the clarity into what software
employees are using for their day to day processes, CIOs
are failing to regulate processes, create plans, and preserve
a critical business data. So, to discover various shadow IT
departments, soon SaaS discovery tools will function to
alert organizations and to find solutions.
Within a very short period, an increasing number of
financially powerful cloud application MSP’s are advancing
above the mark of $50 million mark. Which is eventually
helping them to produce a surplus of venture capital firms
who are on the lookout of making new investments. The
result is an explosion in the sector of SaaS, however, soon
the funding will become increasingly controversial.
SaaS applications are easy fit for small businesses and
startups, where deploying and managing on-premise
infrastructure is not a great idea. According to recent
research, more than 6,000 European organizations, which
range from pre-startups to established small businesses
found many growth options. Whereas more than 64 percent
of the survey respondents were already using the cloud-
based software. By 2017, the percentage is expected to
grow up to 78 percent. As per the research, financial
management, project management, customer management,
and marketing are the key areas where the organizations are
seeking support from SaaS vendors.
So, here are some of the key trends of SaaS, that can
eventually change the market. However, we still expect
more and more SaaS companies to expand their limits and
move into different segments while evolving from single
product services to platforms.
|September 2018| 23
Editor’s Pick

Massive technology changes,
never seen or experienced
before are revolutionizing
the businesses with advent of the new
wave of digital innovation. From cloud
computing to mobility, to big data
analytics, IoT, machine learning, and
artificial intelligence, these
technologies have completely
transformed the business landscape
irrespective of the industry— banking,
retail, telecom or utility alike. The pace
of this technological advancement is
growing exponentially, establishing
new business models and creating
tectonic shifts in market dynamics.
The technology-savvy and digitally
connected customers of today are
further forcing businesses to take
cognizance of their preferences,
expectations and consumption trends.
Unless business aligns their approach
and processes with this customer-
centric approach, survival may be
thwarted in the competitive landscape.
Today, the energy and utility industry
grapples with its unique set of
challenges comprising aging
infrastructure, workforce retention and
recruitment, widening demand-supply
deficit, evolving regulatory mandates,
stricter environmental compliances,
need to increase grid resilience, and
economic and social ramifications.
Ultimately, utilities face the risk of
disintermediation of their relationship
with the customer, allowing new
entrants to capture the value, while
they are left holding the costs.
For utilities to meet these challenges
while delivering quality service and
sustaining their financial viability, it is
paramount to reexamine their approach
technology and digitalization. While
the traditional energy and utility
industry had been a relatively slow
adopter of technology compared to
other sectors, nonetheless, it has picked
up pace in last couple of years. The
energy and utility companies today are
beginning to comprehend the value of
digital innovation and its impact on
improving their operational
efficiencies, boosting service levels,
reducing costs and most importantly on
increasing customer satisfaction. This
has led them to explore the
opportunities extended by adopting
latest technologies such as cloud,
mobile, big data, predictive analytics,
IoT, machine learning, artificial
intelligence, robotics and others. The
industry is now quick to leverage latest
innovations to modernize processes,
gain efficiencies and gain customer
confidence.
By adopting a “mobile-first” strategy,
the utilities can enable real-time
connectivity with customers and their
workforce alike – from anywhere,
anytime and using any device. This has
empowered customers who can easily
manage or monitor their real-time and
historic usage, and make better choices
based on data-backed insights. They
can conveniently plan and manage
their bills and payments with increased
ease and flexibility. The utilities can
use mobile technology to become
proactive in sending alerts,
notifications and personalized
communication to the customers. It can
also boost the workforce productivity
and efficiency by equipping them with
on-the-go updates using mobile
devices. Driving customer engagement
can help utility increase customers’
adoption for energy efficiency and
water conservation programs. This in
turn is a win-win for both – the
customers who save on resources as
well as on bills, and even the utility
which is able to manage peak loads
and optimizing resources; thereby also
meeting the state mandates.
Decoding Digital
Transformation
for Utilities
|September 2018|26

Eric Dresselhuys is the President at Smart Energy
Water (SEW). He has been contributing in the
energy, utility and infrastructure industry for 20
years. With his domain know-how, technical
expertise and business acumen, Eric is responsible
for the overall strategic outlook and business
development at SEW. Over the years he has played a
leading role working with utilities across 5
continents to help guide their digital transformation .
Eric is a well-known speaker thought leader across
the energy, utility and infrastructure industries.
About The Author
However, this digital shift poses another set of complexities
for utility industry – huge quantum of customer data, lack
of in-house technical expertise, implementation risks,
integration complexities and ongoing support concerns.
Thus, for utilities, the adoption of technology and solutions
necessitates a strategic outlook rather than tactical detours
focused on quick fixes.
The industry must carefully assess and evaluate the “build
vs. buy” adage to be able to deploy technology or solutions
which are a best-fit for their business requirements and are
also cost-effective and efficient. They must look for
solutions that can easily integrate with existing legacy
systems, require minimal deployment cost and can deliver
faster returns on investment. Since, customers today are
prime drivers of change; another important consideration
for the utility industry must be customer adoption rate. The
customers are doubtlessly more technology savvy today, but
adoption rate depends upon how user-friendly a platform is,
and does it offer self-service capabilities. Similarly, how
quickly and easily the utility workforce can familiarize with
the solution and can use it address customer concerns.
Carefully weighing these considerations can help the
industry truly leverage the emerging technologies and thrive
on the wave of digitalization.
The acceleration of digital transformation in the utility
industry has predictably driven an upsurge in the number of
service providers offering technologies to address these
needs, each with their unique value proposition, but
generally focused on only a small sub-set of the overall
challenge. Thus, the utility companies must be cautious
while identifying their digital transformation partners’ basis
not just the technical competencies but also ensures both
are aligned in terms of long-term architectural compliance
and are driven by a shared goal to build the utility’s
primacy with its customers.
As more and more utilities adapt and adopt emerging
technologies, CIOs have an important role to play as they
must carefully balance long-term and short-term
deployment decisions. With the evolving utility-customer
relationship, they must probe areas where digital can help
them strengthen relationship with customers, while
improving operations, bridging organizational siloes, and
developing topline opportunities. Indeed, digital
transformation opens arrays of opportunities for utilities,
but, success will require a significant investment in new
talent and capabilities, and careful prioritization.
Eric Dresselhuys
President
Smart Energy Water
|September 2018| 27
Digi Transformation

DevCom:
DevCom with a mission of transforming small business
into smart business.
Established in 2000, DevCom is a reliable software
development partner for clients worldwide. The company
comprehends what its clientele values in the services it
provides. Its custom software development is based on the
latest software technologies adjoined with solid quality
assurance. Moreover, DevCom is a truly customer-centric
company putting customer satisfaction in front of it all.
Finally, DevCom is a know-it-all company using all the
available software languages ranging from Java, JavaScript,
and PHP to C#, C++.
A Resolute Leader
Slavik Lavryk is the CEO of DevCom since 2016. He
holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and
Computer Science from the Ivan Franko National
University of Lviv. Slavik possess exceptional expertise in
OOP, Scrum and Agile Methodologies. He has had a
lifelong relationship with DevCom. He made his way to the
position of CEO by starting as a software engineer at
DevCom 15 years ago.
Currently, Slavik leads the company in its outsourcing
efforts. He focuses the company efforts on long-term
partnerships and customer success. He also manages to find
balance between flexibility and discipline making the
company culture well-adjusted to change.
Disruptive Services
DevCom possesses the capabilities to use different agile
software development methods on demand from its clients.
These methods may include continuous development
practices, mobile agile and agile in the clouds. The
development practice of agile in the clouds is the most
DevCom:
Delivering Distinctive Software Solutions Globally
Software has been known to be disrupting the ways we
interact with devices. Be it an AI powered
smartphone or an office Xerox machine, without
software, every device would be deprived of power. The
current digital decade has witnessed an explosive ascension
of the software industry along with the innovative solutions
it entails. Software solution providers, on a global scale,
strive to reform the market with breakthrough software
tools and solutions. One such exceptional organization
striving and thriving in the software development sector is,
Slavik Lavryk
CEO
|September 2018|28

common method used at DevCom. The
method employs one or more cloud
environments uniting the company
team with the customers.
Agile in the clouds method employs
virtualized infrastructure like AWS,
Azure or Jira. These tools bring a lot of
benefits to DevCom’s clients and
assure the success of their projects. The
company firstly produces and
configures development and testing
environments. Secondly, the
virtualized infrastructure enhances
communication with its clients and
makes agile sprints way more effective.
The tools finally make the company’s
agile software development solutions
faster and bug-free.
DevCom provides four primary
services under its software
development offerings, viz, Web
Development, Custom Software
Development, Mobile Application
Development, and Software Support. A
brief description of these services is as
follows:
• Web Development:
DevCom assures a definite success
of its clients’ projects with its
responsive and agile approach to
web development and design. The
company develops fast and
progressive web apps to enhance
businesses. Its clients receive a
responsive web solution, adapting
easily to any mobile device and
providing a smooth user experience
on every platform. The in-house
developers can build a website
using the most suitable CMS. One
can choose either a ready-to-use
CMS platform like WordPress and
Magento or create a custom one
using a PHP framework.
Along with these services, DevCom
also provides custom e-learning and
e-commerce platform solutions, and
also creation or improvisation of
clients’ CRM and ERP systems.
platform. The company’s experts
create business apps to increase
productivity and can build software
for time tracking, project
management, team communications
or any other business need.
Personal Care & Productivity apps,
Maps & Navigation apps, and
Social Media Apps are a few of
DevCom’s expertise areas.
• Software Support:
DevCom assures software support
at every stage of its clients’
technological journey by
functioning as a safety net. The
company always makes sure its
clients receive high-quality
software. One can employ its
thorough QA experts for manual or
automated testing to receive a bug-
free product. DevCom’s top priority
is to make digital assets safe from
harm. Penetration testing, security
monitoring, general security
management and secure
development services and also
consulting DevOps, Data &
Application Integration are
provided under DevCom’s software
support.
Envisioning a Bright Future
Agile methodologies provide
outstanding and swift results making
projects shine. Moreover, the share of
enterprises using agile software
solutions is on the rise opening new
markets to DevCom. According to
Collabnet Versionone report, the share
of agile-first companies rose from 8 to
25 % since 2016.
DevCom differs from its competitors in
its flexible approach. “We are ready to
use any viable agile method for our
client’s project. In the future, we may
be switching to continuous agile
support of our clients’projects. This
will definitely enhance our client
support experience,” states Slavik.
• Custom Software Development:
DevCom holds expertise in creating
any custom-tailored solution,
clients need. The company assures
to transform regular businesses into
digital ones. One can trust the
digital transformation to DevCom,
whatever size the company is, an
SME, an enterprise or a startup. It
develops responsive solutions for
any platform needed. Developing a
custom-tailored software solution
adapting easily to all the possible
devices, mobile, tablet and PC is
the company’s forte. Cloud
solutions, AI & Machine Learning,
and Big Data & Business
Intelligence are other solutions
provided by DevCom under
Custom Software Development.
• Mobile Application Development:
Upon a client’s request, DevCom
can develop either a quick-to-do
cross-platform app or a well-
groomed native app for Android,
iOS or Windows. It develops easy-
to-use mobile apps for any
We aim at
transforming small
business into
smart business.
‘‘‘‘
|September 2018| 29

The rise in cyber-crimes is one of the main causes of
Data center outages. As per the recent survey
conducted by industry insiders, cyber-crime caused
22 percent data center outages in 2015 opposed to 2 percent
outages in 2010. Adding to all these, now most of the data
centers are re-evaluating their security policies after the
recent WannaCry ransomware attack.
Data center outages cause companies to loss revenue in
many ways. However, the costliest loss is service
interruption and loss of IT productivity. So, the
organizations are now realizing that traditional security is
no longer secure enough to secure any data center. A recent
study has found that 83 percent of traffic travels east/west
within the data center, which stays undetected by the
perimeter security. In this environment, when an attacker
infiltrates the perimeter firewall, then can jump across the
system with ease, extract information and compromise
valuable data. Additionally, data centers can fail due to
trespassers or a terrorist attack or by natural calamities.
So, how can one secure a data center in the best way
possible from any kind of cyber threat? Don’t worry we’ve
got you covered, with the points below.
As the first step, one should Map the Data Center and flag
the hackers within the virtual and physical infrastructure.
The CSOs and CIOs with a system map of their systems
can react to any suspicious activity and take steps to stop
data breaches. Being able to visualize different traffic
patterns within a network helps to understand threats, that
eventually elevates the level of security.
Understanding and measurement of traffic flow within
the data center boundary are very important. In the case of
any interruption in traffic across east/west vs north/south,
protected vs unprotected one can get to know about a threat.
Additionally, vulnerable zones and unprotected traffic need
to be monitored for a better result.
Firewall rules need to be defined and implemented as per
requirements. Additionally, one should allow traffic only
after thorough verification and selectively allow
communication to ensure maximum protection. The key is
to identify, what;s legal and secured and what can be
blocked to enhance security.
One needs to Build a Team with executives who
understand how traffic flows within the premises and can
access & secure information, take necessary measures to
secure important assets along with the implementation of
roadblocks for the attackers.
Security must move as fast as a data center’s technology
adoption and integration. Security Strategy Should
Change Alongside the Technology and it should not be
treated as an add-on option. Additionally, businesses also
should ensure that their virus protection, signatures other
protection features are up to date for better protection.
Businesses should Identify and Place Controls over high-
value assets, which will help to reduce risk. However, older
security solutions are completely blind to new threats, new
security companies have produced latest solutions that
protect data in the virtual world.
Access Restriction also needs to be imposed. Every
business should thoroughly check a person’s background
before giving the access to a prized possession. Access to
the main site and the loading bay must be limited,
additionally, two-factor authentications and fortified
|September 2018|30

interiors with security guards and roving patrols would help to safeguard the employees and the data center.
Installing Surveillance Cameras around the data center, alongside removing signs which may provide clues to its function
helps to locate an intruder. A buffer zone between the data center and all the entry points will limit unlawful trespassing to a
great extent. Additionally, the data center needs to be far away from the main road and it should not have any windows other
than administrative purposes for better security.
A data center should Check Test Back-Up Systems regularly as prescribed by the manufacturer. It should also ensure to
make a list and of Do’s and Don’ts in the event of an attack. Recovery plans and security plans also need to be checked
thoroughly.
Data centers are always a Soft Target for The Terrorists, as an attack on them can disrupt and damage major business and
communication infrastructure. So, security needs to be taken seriously and to do that proactive steps should be taken to limit
the impact of a terrorist attack.
Trained Security Guards needs to be posted inside a data center and they should be well trained. Security officers must
undergo strict site-specific training to monitor surveillance footage. Depending on the size of data center and the number of
security cameras multiple security officers may be required on duty. Security officers dedicated to inspecting surveillance
footage helps when it comes to securing a data center.
Disaster Recovery is very much important, that must be in place. If the data center stops functioning after an attack or
natural calamity, it must have a way to restore operations as soon as possible. To be ready for a disaster and to evaluate the
disaster recovery plan, it’s necessary to train staffs well and experience simulated disasters.
To avoid these obstacles, one needs a fair bit of knowledge of new security systems, solid plans, and comprehensive
visibility. The more work a data center can do up front in the above-mentioned areas the better the chances of success with
lesser outages.
|September 2018| 31
Industry Insight

PractiTest:
An Israel-based company, PractiTest is leading the
revolution in technology and methodology offering
Application Life Management and a Cloud-based
Innovative Test Management tool. The company provides
an end-to-end Test Management tool which offers a
common platform for all stakeholders in an organization. It
also enables full visibility into the testing process and
deeper broader understanding of testing results.
PractiTest provides fully customizable tools which can be
adapted to the ever-changing needs of Quality Assurance
(QA) teams. It also includes a vast array of third-party
integration with common bug trackers and automation tools
and robust API for the rest. Fast professional and
methodological support ensures clients avail maximum
efficiency, so companies can release great products
according to their user’s needs.
Offering Unified Solutions
PractiTest is a QA Management platform, designed to help
businesses to control their testing and development process.
The solution focuses on both effective management of the
project and its information and also how to communicate
the results of testing to everyone in the organization.
The system can get the result from almost any Automation
or Scripting Tools such as Selenium, J-unit, Soap-UI, QTP,
Ranorex, and others.
Insights of a Leader with Technology Expertise
Yaniv Iny is the CEO of PractiTest. He is also in-charge
of Marketing, and R&D for PractiTest. Yaniv has over 20
years of experience in the field of Innovation and
Technology.
PractiTest:
Transforming Test Management Tool to the Next Level
In today’s technology world, companies are dedicatedly
working on developing and testing software which
provides the entire spectrum of functions and services
in the traditional software delivery lifecycle. In today’s
economic world, these service providers are becoming more
competitive.
Yaniv Iny
CEO
|September 2018|34

Yaniv is an MBA graduate from Tel
Aviv University with a focus in
Strategy and Finance. He also has an
extensive experience under his belt of
building startups and contributing to
the overall development of established
companies. Having experience in
Management Consulting firm, he helps
small companies to enlarge, evolve and
become successful.
Ensuring Best Testing Tool for
Seamless Integration
PractiTest integration includes all
testing information at once central
place. There are some methods majorly
used for seamless integration such as,
Ÿ JIRA Test Management – This
method offers end to end Test
Management Solution for Two-
Way Integration with JIRA Cloud
& JIRA Server. PractiTest’s
powerful two-way integration for
all JIRA platforms provides a
seamless test management, QA,
and development process solution.
Ÿ Pivotal Tracker Test
Management – It includes an end
to end Test Management Solution
for Pivotal Tracker which provides
a powerful Test Management
Solution, enhancing advanced
Agile Project Management
functionality.
Ÿ Redmine Integration - PractiTest’s
Redmine plugin is used to
synchronize the issues and tests.
This integration method is simple
and is automatically updated with
issues arising during testing with
PractiTest.
Ÿ Bugzilla Integration - Standard
Bugzilla integration works like all
other PractiTest integrations. It
works when tester clicks on the
Fail & Issue link in a test run, it
will open a new bug form in
Bugzilla.
Setting Benchmark in the Market
The company is stepping up with a
unique approach to enclose
organization data using unique features
available only to PractiTest users.
PractiTest treats its clients as partners
and helps them achieve their goals,
including methodological help and the
best responsive support. This has been
made possible by the inspirational
approach PractiTest has adopted over
its development period.
PractiTest is inspired by changing
needs of the market. The company has
always changed its approaches
according to the technology and trends
in the Test Management Process. The
company also believes a tester must be
an inherent part of the development
process from the very beginning to the
very end to be able to reflect quality
issues throughout the process.
CEO of the company, Yaniv Iny stated,
“We believe that a tester’s job is not
about finding bugs, but about assuring
quality.”
Stepping Towards Future of Test
Management
PractiTest started its journey as little
company with a big vision to make the
life of the QA professionals better and
easier. With a lot of team effort and
devotion to the goal & mission, the
PractiTest Team always put the client
first and sees the clients as its true
partners.
Now, PractiTest is working on new
features to enable more possibilities for
Data Management and Visualization.
In the coming future, the company’s
unified tools will become a point of
communication and clearance to all
project stakeholders to get better Test
Management output.
Using Unique Hierarchical Structure
Being a light SaaS QA Management
Tool PractiTest was designed for the
Agile process. Hierarchical filter trees
structure, combined with customizable
visibility and seamless integration
create a unique data organization that
allows a user to slice and dice his data
to extract real actionable items. The
platform can work with external tools
such as Bug Trackers, Automated
Testing Tools, CI and many more
which is sometimes crucial for the
agile workflow.
PractiTest provides benefits to its
clients through unified Test
Management Tools such as display
information in multiple ways at once,
providing relevant information to each
stakeholder and duplicate data or
generating complex Database
queries easily.
Taking business to
the next level with
uni ed Test
Management to
the next level.
‘‘‘‘
|September 2018| 35

Data &
Endpoint
Management
Rising Mobile
Workforce
and its
Challenges
in the
Mobile-Cloud
Era:
Mathivanan V
Vice President
ManageEngine
Mobility and cloud
computing are rapidly
becoming the norm for
enterprises around the world. In turn,
enterprise IT departments are facing
new management and security
challenges as the amount of business
data soars and the number of
endpoints explodes. The question
that is doing the rounds is what IT
teams need to consider to manage
and secure their businesses in this
new era.
Industry analysts predict deep
penetration of enterprise
mobility by the year 2020.
IDC, for instance, forecasts
|September 2018|36

that mobile workers will account for
almost 75 percent of the total
workforce in the U.S. Meanwhile,
Strategy Analytics projects that the
global mobile workforce will reach
1.75 billion users and account for 42
percent of the global workforce
overall.
The economic perspective is just as
bright as a button. The global
enterprise mobility market will be
worth as much as $140 billion,
predicts the National Association of
Software and Services Companies.
And the investments are paying off.
To date, 84 percent of all companies
who consider themselves on the
cutting edge of mobility report an
increase in overall productivity as a
direct result of incorporating mobile
apps into their business, according to
a survey by AppsFreedom.
Likewise, enterprises are expected to
continue relentlessly adopting cloud
technologies. By 2020, Gartner
forecasts the public cloud services
market will reach $383 billion. This
includes spending on cloud business
process services, cloud application
infrastructure services, cloud
application services, cloud
management and security services,
cloud system infrastructure services,
and of course, cloud advertising.
The flip side of increasing enterprise
mobility and cloud usage is the
increasing risk to enterprise security.
Today, most users have at least two
endpoints – a laptop and mobile
device – and 80 percent of network
devices are be endpoints that are
constantly connected to the internet
and exposed to its threats such as
Meltdown, Spectre, Wannacry, and
Petya.
More troubling, the typical end user
has little knowledge of those threats
or their ramifications. The result is
more users are more likely to leak
enterprise data by using
compromised websites and rogue
online services. The CVE listed
14,712 cybersecurity vulnerabilities
for 2017 and has already listed 2,848
for the first two months of 2018. In
response, vendors large and small are
releasing patches on a daily basis.
Enterprise IT teams clearly need to
focus on endpoint security
management to ensure business
success in the mobile-cloud era.
Endpoint Security Challenges
Keeping endpoints up to date with
the latest versions of their OSes and
applications has become a full-time
job, one that is getting harder to
perform in the mobile enterprise. A
growing challenge is the diversity of
endpoint operating systems that must
be managed, including Android, iOS,
MacOS, Windows, Linux, and
Chrome OS. For each, the IT team
must learn that OS along with its
corresponding patching technique.
Likewise, applications acquired from
the various app stores are managed
with different techniques that must be
learned and mastered so that the team
can secure the endpoints.
Another challenge is managing the
endpoints from day one, especially
mobile devices. While it’s been
relatively easy for IT admins to
install agent software on desktops
and laptops, smart phones and other
mobile devices make life harder for
the admins because the devices are
rarely if ever connected to the
corporate network. Consequently,
devices must be provisioned with the
necessary mobile device
management software before they are
given to end users. Devices that are
not appropriately managed are
security risks, so no business
application should be installed or run
on them.
Related to the day-one management
challenge is updating endpoints that
are on the go, anytime and anywhere.
IT teams must be able to install
critical patches while employees are
traveling, commuting, or otherwise
offsite.
Data leakage presents yet another
security challenge for IT teams to
overcome. Data leakage can happen
with or without the users’ knowledge.
For instance, users may knowingly
copy business data to a USB device
or upload it to a cloud storage
service. They may also unknowingly
expose that data to a public cloud
service when using third-party apps
such as document viewers and
predictive keyboard apps. Such apps
may compromise user IDs and
passwords, account numbers, and
other sensitive enterprise data by
exposing it to public cloud services.
When a user’s device is lost or
stolen, the IT team must be able to
track and recover the device or wipe
the data if the device isn’t recovered.
To maintain the user’s privacy,
however, the IT team can not
continuously track the location of the
user’s device.
BYOD presents another privacy vs
security challenge: When users use
their own devices for business
purposes, privacy needs to be
maintained. Photos, contacts, and
other personal data should not be
|September 2018| 37
Tech Perspective

managed by company’s mobile device management app.
On the other hand, security needs to be maintained, too.
To that end, the IT team should create a container on the
user’s personal device – a secure, managed area that
isolates business email, CRM, and other enterprise apps
and data from the rest of user’s personal apps/data.
To establish strong endpoint security and prevent
unwanted attacks, IT teams must apply strict security
policies on their endpoints. Laptops, for instance, should
always run a firewall, prevent the creation of unwanted
network shares, and encrypt data via BitLocker or
FileVault. Such security policies can protect enterprises
from the security risks posed by mobility.
Predicting The Development Of Data And Endpoint
Management
Going forward, machine learning and AI will help make
data and endpoint management a proactive, rather than a
reactive process. For instance, these technologies could
prevent data theft by detecting anomalies such as
unusual login activities or an unusually large number of
documents being uploaded to the cloud. They could
analyze the root cause of patch deployment failures and
suggest fixes. They could also detect system idle times –
during lunch hours, for instance – to deploy patches as
soon as possible rather wait until after hours or
weekends, which can leave systems unnecessarily
vulnerable.
Meanwhile, the internet of things (IoT) will introduce
many organizations to a new breed of endpoints and
connected devices. Unlike their iOS- and Android-
powered predecessors, IoT devices will be running many
different OSes and applications, all of which may be
vulnerable yet must be managed and secured.
Finally, most business applications are moving to the
cloud and accessed via browser, effectively making the
browser an endpoint. That means to defend against
attacks, IT teams need to manage browsers and perform
all security operations for them just as if they were
desktops, laptops, or any other device.
As organizations continue to adopt mobility and the
cloud, they must also adopt the practices necessary to
support this new reality. Data and endpoint security and
management are priority one in IT departments. For the
vast majority of companies around the world, their future
success depends on recognizing and committing to that
priority.
|September 2018|38

ZXM has coached over 65 teams across 20 organizations
and trained over 600 people over the last five years. Its
Agile coaches and trainers are experienced practitioners
who have worked with government departments and
agencies to help organizations, portfolios, programs, and
teams perform as effectively as possible.
With offices in Australia and New Zealand, ZXM counts
among its clients the Australian Taxation Office, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Industry
and Innovation, the Department of Human Services, Origin
Energy, Nestle, and eBay.
ZXM uses Agile frameworks and user-centered design
techniques to work collaboratively with clients to solve
complex business problems.
An Interesting Journey
ZXM started with a focus primarily on customer
experience, and digital product design and development.
Digital transformation is a major area of concern for the
company’s clients, and ZXM’s experience in both the
human and technology sides of modern product
development puts them in a strong position to deliver this
change.
After ZXM’s first few engagements, several clients
expressed keen interest in the Agile frameworks the
company used in its own projects. It was from these early
conversations that ZXM’s agile coaching and digital
transformation services were developed; they now represent
its biggest service delivery area in the global marketplace.
ZXM quickly became a pioneer in adapting behavioral
science models from psychology to assist its clients with
Zen Ex Machina:Zen Ex Machina:
Leading Large Organizations with Business Agility
Zen Ex Machina (ZXM) is a professional
management consulting company that specializes in
digital transformation, Agile coaching, and
personnel training across government and commercial
entities. ZXM helps the government and corporate world
improve their digital products and services by using Agile,
Lean and UX techniques.
Mia Horrigan
CEO
|September 2018|40

Agile adoption, change management
and digital transformation. The
challenge with cultural change areas is
a perpetual issue for many of ZXM’s
clients.
These frameworks still underpin the
company’s consulting services from
Agile coaching and training to digital
agility and project, program and
portfolio management. Combined with
21st century digital, Agile and design
thinking techniques have made ZXM
learn faster, deliver better, and
continuously improve their practice.
ZXM faced challenges during its initial
growth in the business world as Agile
services. The company worked through
the global financial crisis with clients
who had similar values and this helped
them to build deep trusted relationships
that they have continued to maintain.
While change is the one constant that
often adversely impacts many modern
organizations, ZXM has learnt to
continuously improve and adapt its
skills to meet the evolving needs of
their clients, and embrace new and
complex challenges.
Committed to Enhancement
One of the leading causes of failure of
Agile initiatives is a lack of experience
in implementing the frameworks and
practices. ZXM aims to improve the
agility of its clients’ program teams. It
primly focuses on building capability
and enablement through coaching
support that enable teams to adapt the
trends of their industry with foremost
agility.
ZXM’s efficient frameworks enable its
Agile consultants to focus on the
creation of Agile capabilities and
organizational change with enterprise
clients, and support the digital
transformation of public services for
the government sector.
The company places particular
emphasis on developing digital
services that meet the DTA’s Digital
Service Standard by integrating UCD
Mia Horrigan (CEO), Matthew
Hodgson (CIO) and Kai Koenig
(CTO).
Mia Horrigan is an experienced
Program Manager with over 15 years
of experience as a senior executive
leading and implementing software
solutions, including digital
transformations.
Mia has worked with Agile teams for
over 10 years and is an experienced
Product Manager and Scrum Master.
She has been successful in delivering
business outcomes and value through
the successful implementation of
Agile/Scrum at both team and
enterprise level.
Over the years Mia has specialized in
Agile/Scrum Coaching and Training,
which includes business engagement
with senior executives, program boards
and stakeholders. She has also
developed strategies and roadmaps for
Digital Transformations programs.
Mia has extensive experience in
Program and Service Delivery
management, and in leading and
managing teams of consultants, project
teams, and operational staff.
Market-Leading Agile Solutions
ZXM strives to build a strong,
collaborative relationship with each of
its clients Agile methods are at the.
core of its practice. It has grown
significantly over the past two years
and now has the depth of capability to
support its large enterprise clients with
effective digital services and other
futuristic solutions.
The company’s core values are
simplicity, agility, collaboration and
sustainability – values that underpin
their versatile solutions. This focus on
business value and users over just
technology change is one of the
reasons ZXM is a leading brand in the
delivery of Agile services in this highly
competitive digital age.
methods, tools, and practices into Agile
processes. This includes the ‘Definition
of Done’, and how best to describe and
define a Minimal Viable Product
(MVP). Additionally, ZXM consultants
provide pragmatic advice on
best-practice Agility based on practical
experience across Scrum, Lean,
Kanban, and scaled frameworks like
Nexus and SAFe.
A key element in ZXM’s approach to
support its clients in achieving the best
outcomes is capability and knowledge
development, and focus delivery of
value based products through the use
of user-centered design methods,
including Design Thinking, combined
with Agile frameworks such as Scrum
to drive improvement cadence and
Lean to improve efficiency.
An Experienced Leader
Zen Ex Machina (ZXM) is a
professional management services
consultancy established in 2011 by
Agility is our passion
as it encourages
incremental
improvement through
transparency,
inspection and
adaptation, strong
leadership, and a
disciplined use of
frameworks such as
Scrum to achieve
goals quickly and
collaboratively with
business and
with stakeholders.
‘‘
‘‘
|September 2018| 41

Till now we have witnessed about wireless charging
for electronic gadgets and devices only, but now we
can also charge electric bikes, cars and buses
wirelessly. Imagine that, we are driving on highway and our
car’s battery drains. Now, instead of finding a fuel pump,
electric power source, adapter, cable, etc. we just have to
stop or park our car on wireless charging platform for short
time, available at any shopping complex or food malls,
again no need to come-out of the car, besides anyone’s
assistance. This is really an amazing idea and this is going
to true.
History
Electromagnetic Induction, which dates to inventors such as
Michael Faraday in the year 1831 and Joseph Henry in the
year 1832. Faraday was the first to publish the results of his
experiments. Nikola Tesla utilized electromagnetic energy
to transmit the power between two coils in the early 1900s.
Faraday’s law of induction is a basic law of
electromagnetism forecasting how a magnetic field will
interact with an electric circuit and produces an
electromotive force (EMF)—a phenomenon called
electromagnetic induction. It is the fundamental working
principle of transformers, inductors, and many types of
electrical motors, generators, solenoids and wireless
charging.
Functioning
Working of wireless charging is nearly same as ‘electric
transformer’, but difference is in application
only—Transformers are used to increase or decrease the
alternating voltages in electric power applications through
electromagnetic induction and Wireless Charger are used
to transfer energy between two objects using
electromagnetic field.
How exactly it Works
Electric vehicle (EV) with wireless charging is having
secondary coil fitted at bottom of vehicle and primary coil
is securely installed on ground (i.e. charging platform).
Charging:
Future of Green Automotive
The basic wireless charging system needs two coils. The
primary coil, encased in a pad that sits on the floor of a
garage or parking platform, is connected to a power source.
Alternating current flows from an outlet into the coil, set up
an electromagnetic field that enables the power to jump to a
secondary coil in a pad attached to the bottom of the
vehicle. When the vehicle parks in the proper position over
the primary coil pad, an indicator light goes on and
charging begins. The two coils must be facing within about
8 inches of each other for effective charging.
Pre-eminence over Cable Charging
Wireless Charging gives a convenient, safe, and reliable
way to charge and power electrical vehicles at home, in the
workplace and in industry. Wireless power maintains safe,
continuous, and reliable transfer of power for all types of
electric vehicles.
Wireless charging eliminates the use of physical connectors
and cables. It provides a number of efficiency, cost and
safety pre-eminence over the traditional charging cable.
This make possible to install it anywhere like; on the side of
highways, parking lots, malls, multiplexes, toll plazas, etc.
Experts predict more powerful wireless stations will be like
to appear at office buildings, shopping centers and
restaurants. When anyone parks vehicle at office or at
restaurant it will get charged automatically in that space of
time.
Due to this effortless frequent power availability and safety,
a vehicle does not need large batteries unlike for
conventional cable charging. It makes vehicle light and
compact, that tends to increase overall efficiency of vehicle.
Plug-in stations can be easily damaged in crowded metro
cities. A number of municipalities have reported problems
that thieves have cut EV charging cables to steal the copper
from the wires. High-powered Level 3 stations, also called
DC fast-charge, have large cables, which make them even
more attractive to thieves.
Wireless
|September 2018|42

“Imagine wireless electric-vehicle charging being as easy
and widespread as Wi-Fi is today,” said Chris Borroni-Bird,
former director of advanced technology vehicle concepts
for General Motors and who is a vice president of strategic
development at Qualcomm Technologies.
Implementation is in Progress
Wireless charging technology is almost ready for the big
stage. It is on the verge of initial deployment, starting from
the Mercedes-Benz S500e plug-in hybrid sedan next year.
They plan to fit wireless charging on the S500e plug-in
hybrid sedan in 2017.
BMW is also working together with Mercedes-Benz on the
technology, to develop a wireless charging system for its i3
electric vehicle and i8 plug-in hybrid. A prototype test
version, made by Qualcomm technologies, is already in use
in the BMW i8 safety car in the Formula E electric-vehicle
race series. Qualcomm has exhibited its Halo system in
various vehicles, including the Drayson B12/69 electric
racing car.
Evatran’s Plugless aftermarket system is now commercially
available for the LEAF and the Volt, and a Model
S- compatible version is likely to come. Several major
automakers have indicated that they’re working on offering
wireless charging for future EVs. Tesla is also on the way of
introducing its EV’s with wireless charging.
It is also already being piloted by some community bus
systems. Buses need to take number of stoppage in city. A
wireless charger can be installed on a stopping platform—
tends to reduce size of batteries— will improve efficiency
electric bus.
Wireless charging technology is really amazing as invention
of electric current. It is interesting to see how it will put
back the conventional fossil fuel powered vehicle with
clean, green, safe, silent and efficient electric vehicles with
wireless charging for healthy future of planet Earth.
|September 2018| 43
Recharging Environment

The
Evolution
of
Testing:
Unmatched Acceleration
with Fifth Generation
Automation
Shoeb Javed
CTO
Worksoft
he Early Years of Packaged Applications
TFrom the inception of packaged applications, companies of
all sizes have taken advantage of the economies of building,
maintaining, changing and deploying functionality through
third party software providers. Why build a general ledger
or payroll/human resources system when you can license it
instead? Why not leverage out of the box functionality
offered by third party software and rely on the vendor to
offer support and maintenance and stay current on
regulatory, industry and process best practices.
The first generation of mainframe software transformed
quickly as the technology evolved, introducing client-server
as the better, more cost-effective deployment platform. The
applications themselves were still being developed and
deployed in functional silos – their interaction with other
critical functions of the business an after-thought. Although
less than ideal, interfaces were developed to transport data
|September 2018|46

from one system to the next – leading to the introduction of
middle-ware as an economical means of “connecting” the
silos.
At that time, SAP emerged as the leader in delivering
comprehensive, end-to-end business solutions on the most
advanced platforms. They quickly captured the market and
cross-industry adoption continued to deliver best in class
results to their customers. PeopleSoft was also introduced
to the market during this era, initially focusing on the
payroll/human resources market. They ultimately started
developing and delivering ERP and CRM systems as well.
Change continued to accelerate as web-based systems were
introduced which impacted the economic and technological
dynamics of “user requirements,” development,
deployment, and costs.
Throughout this evolution, industries, companies and
individuals not only developed an incredible reliance on the
performance of their “systems,” but forward thinking
organizations saw this as a quick path to competitive
advantage.
The Need for Speed
The problem then as now – how do you accelerate the value
of the technology investment to the business? The
technology was purchased, licensed, and implemented to
achieve a specific set of business benefits. When it comes to
these large enterprise application investments, companies
conduct in-depth evaluations and build business cases to
map out exactly what results they expect to realize. This
typically involves a look at what financial and human
capital investments – time and money – will be needed to
achieve success with a product as well as the financial,
efficiency, and competitive gains that come with the
ongoing use of the software.
On one side of the equation, development methods have
evolved to meet this need for speed. Waterfall
methodologies are being replaced with Agile. DevOps has
become the new buzz-word. But there’s something else to
consider – the business side of things. There is an ever-
increasing reliance on packaged applications to execute and
deliver critical business outcomes. It’s important that
applications are developed and deployed quickly and
changes can be made regularly, but how do you ensure that
business processes are running flawlessly?
Surprisingly, many companies are managing their enterprise
application processes manually. This means hours of white-
Shoeb Javed, Chief
Technology Ofcer, Worksoft,
is responsible for the
technology strategy,
software development,
quality assurance and
customer support for all
Worksoft solutions. As CTO,
Shoeb also works with quality
assurance and business
leaders of some of the
largest global Fortune 1000
corporations to help
automate testing of
complex packaged
enterprise applications to
speed up project timelines
and improve operational
efciencies.
board meetings spent trying to understand existing business
processes. Weeks during every project spent writing test
scripts that break when something changes. Delays in
delivery because manual testing can’t keep pace with
business change. The implementation and ongoing
management of enterprise applications is complex, and a
crucial component is making sure that end-to-end processes
work-every time, every day. Manual or first generation
testing means system downtime, errors in production,
wasted time and energy and companies left open to
technology risk.
The bigger picture is that those approaches are
fundamentally standing in the way of achieving the results
companies set out to achieve with packaged apps. How can
you make the financial, productivity, and competitive gains
About the Author
|September 2018| 47
Tech Outlook

two months. Consider how much more
you could accomplish if you could cut
weeks and months from every project.
Leaders across the globe have adopted
Worksoft as their weapon of choice to
improve their financial and operational
positions in their respective industries.
Lead the Way
First to market with autonomous cars?
Moving your business model from
DVDs to online subscription services?
that you were counting on if your
processes aren’t performing flawlessly?
The Evolution of Testing
Thankfully, the answer is today’s fifth
generation test automation that is
enabling business users and
organizations to adopt, accept, and
utilize new applications faster. When
processes across enterprise
applications are executed seamlessly
and as designed, companies can
harness the potential of their enterprise
applications to achieve strategic goals
like entering new markets, increasing
revenue, and maintaining a competitive
advantage.
Worksoft, the pre-eminent fifth
generation automation platform,
delivers unmatched speed in
automating the identification of current
business processes and automatically
creating tests to ensure that each
business-critical process works as
required. An independent study of
Worksoft customers by industry
analyst IDC identified many unique
benefits of Worksoft’s automation
platform, but chief among them was
accelerating delivery of these
applications by an average of nearly
Evolving from an online bookstore to
the world’s largest internet retailer?
These companies didn’t simply try to
keep up. They were determined to lead.
Today’s digital economy brings
massive opportunity to companies
looking to disrupt the market. There
has been a fundamental change to the
business landscape and companies who
are competitive innovators will win.
About the Company
Worksoft provides the world's leading
automation platform for enterprise
applications. Companies worldwide
rely on Worksoft's automated business
process discovery, documentation,
compliance, testing, risk analysis, and
RPA to support critical packaged
applications, including SAP,
Salesforce, Oracle, Workday,
SuccessFactors, ServiceNow and more.
Our fifth-generation automation
platform helps enterprises accelerate
innovation and change, lower
technology risk, and increase
efficiency. Our ecosystem includes
partnerships with Accenture, IBM,
Cognizant, SAP and our Global 5000
customers include 3M, Intel,
Microsoft, Siemens and more.
|September 2018|48

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