Regardless of whether you are a designer or aspiring to be one, it is crucial to know that technology’s correct use will assume a significant role in your success.
Innovation moves at the speed of light in this day and age. Hence designers need to be on the same track to take the leverage of the developing technology fully. So exactly what impact does technology have on design work?
Two decades ago, we wound up in amazement at how computers and the Internet changed countless aspects of our life. Exactly when we thought technology had reached its pinnacle, we were also happily mindful about what was going to unfurl.
Gone are the days when you require a pen or paper as instruments to make your designs. Today, inventive software and the latest devices have made a designer’s life immensely simple, efficient along with making it interesting.
It is straightforward to comprehend how technology impacts how designers work and how they present their designs. The analog designers have discussed the disadvantages of technology, debating that it kills imagination and brings down the design value.
The narrative stays the same as before until the analog designers start using and appreciating the proficiency, productivity, and smooth workflow that 21st-century designing tools and cmms software readily allow.
It is highly unlikely that anyone would decide to use the monotonous pen, erasers, and typewriters over the existing 3D printers and tablets specifically created for graphic designing work.
Ways In Which Technology Is Easing Out Design Work
The following are some of the incredible ways in which technology is assisting graphic designers all around the world.
Impact On The Communication Medium
Analog designers employed dependence on the verbal exchange and print media in publicizing various designs. Its major downside was that it restricted the audience base that they could reach out to.
Nearly everybody in the 21st century has an online account. This implies that the graphic designers of today’s era have access to a huge pool of clients.
You may have come across different advertisements via social media with varying sizes and content and asked yourself why you could not find them on print media.
This is because websites and social media platforms have opened doors to various campaigns for new-age designers, ranging from huge corporate covers to little updates from your favorite car magazine.
Better Quality
Advanced devices, for example, graphic tablets, are a definite way to create high-quality designs in comparison to manual devices, such as typewriters.
You are sure of getting designs with better resolution while operating with software and ground-breaking gadgets that can deal with various designs, file formats, and color tones.
It is also fascinating to work with Adobe Photoshop to create perplexing and intricate digital work, which was considered difficult to accomplish a decade ago.
Accessibility
Because of professional software readily available, practically everybody has access to top-quality tools that can help you make unimaginable designs, even if you do not possess the knowledge to do so.
Nonetheless, you can learn to operate this software by accessing a wide variety of tutorial videos that teach everything in detail to help you become a better designer.
With the rise of technology, knowledge is becoming commonplace for everyone to access at just a click of a button easily.
More Productivity
Every industry relies on the efficiency of its workers, and graphic design is no exception. It must have been exhausting and monotonous for analog creators who had to undergo the process of arranging the models, creating design mock-ups, and eventually cutting out the pages to create a single design.
These days, you can create multiple professional-looking designs within a short period just by using your tablet or your computer.
Quick Feedback
The utilization of social media and websites is becoming more common in the 21st century due to various gadgets easily available at our disposal.
Millions of individuals use every social media platform, implying that a designer can instantly review and feedback from different individuals online.
As a result, you can use this constructive criticism and seize the moment to identify your weaknesses and learn and get inspired by other creative designers.
It is possible to receive feedback from a client in a blink of an eye due to technology use.
Streamlining The Workflow
The future desktop permits any individual to send orders, make remarks, or get real-time updates to access the information. The growth of this technology has enabled collaboration where everyone has their dashboard.
Designers, clients, directors, executives, production managers, or anyone involved in the process has easy access to your designing work. This implies – No more emails, sending messages, or waiting patiently for someone to reply.
This new-age, youthful, and paperless generation of graphic designers anticipates instant access to everything. Technology has streamlined the entire process so much that they do not have to be on the phone or on email all the time to receive information.
You can also easily eliminate unnecessary downtime in your designing workflow by using the best preventive maintenance software. This helps you become proactive in dodging gear and software downtime by scheduling regular maintenance based on the asset condition data.
Interactivity is one of, if not the most fundamental benefit of the digital era. We are currently able to make designs where individuals interact with the things they see on the screen.
This has opened up an entire scope of ways that creators can involve the viewer in the piece. For instance, if you want to see football results on a website, you can tap on the football on a search results page and be redirected to a specific website.
Along with the fact that people are looking at designs online, they are also immensely engaged with the piece.
Evolution Of The Graphic Design Career
Alongside the development of computerized graphics technology, professions in this field have likewise evolved.
Designers are no longer constantly glued to their computers. With graphic designing software now easily accessible on smartphones, it has made it a lot simpler for them to work from any place globally.
Additionally, it is also simpler for organizations to outsource talented individuals without recruiting in-house.
This is an enormous advantage for both the designer and the organization. An organization can save a lot of money on leasing an enormous space and pay just a flat fee for the designing services they are looking for.
Conclusion
Every designer will always remain thankful for the various graphic designing tools, irrespective of the fact that an expanding number of amateurs are utilizing them to create low-quality designs. But we all start somewhere, don’t we?
Technological development and out of the box thinking are the critical factors of becoming one of the best graphic designers.
Next time when you come across an extraordinary visual, think about the fact that it is one of a kind blend of the incredible speed of technology and the extremely imaginative mind of a graphic designer.
The creativity behind the design that lures you into a different universe is possible only due to the designer’s innovativeness and the use of technology that has enabled it.
Design technology is the study, design, development, application, implementation, support and management of computer and non-computer based technologies for the express purpose of communicating product design intent and constructability.
What technology is used in design?
The use of CAD (computer-aided design) CAM (computer-aided manufacture) allows products to be designed and manufactured more quickly and accurately. Computer modelling and simulations allow designers to test designs for functionality before investing in tool up for production.
How does technology help design?
Designers can have access to limitless choices of colours and shades that they can mix and match for their designs. A tool called Coolors can help designers pick the best colors.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Scikey.ai
Akshay Sharma, Alok Kumar and Karunjit Kumar Dhir, the founders of SCIKEY had to go through the painful experience of dealing with multiple vendors and service providers for sourcing the required talent or even the right technology solutions & providers. Thereby leading them to start SCIKEY.
SCIKEY is a marketplace network for talent & technology solutions. On SCIKEY’s platform, the entire transaction – right from talent & technology sourcing to delivery happens online. The Asia HR Management industry is anticipated to be USD 40 Billion by 2027 growing @ CAGR of 11.7% (Grand View Research, Feb 2020).
StartupTalky interviewed Akshay Sharma (Co-founder of SCIKEY) to know about the Journey of SCIKEY, while also getting a glance on Scikey’s Business Model, Funding, Growth, Revenue Model, Products, How it started & more…
SCIKEY is a marketplace network for talent & technology solutions. It is essentially, how one may look up to it like the Amazon for talent & technology solutions with a touch of LinkedIn. SCIKEY is a digital platform for jobs, work & business solutions, supported by a Professional Network and an integrated Services Ecosystem. It aims to organize the talent & technology solutions marketplace online.
SCIKEY – Vision, Mission and Core Belief
SCIKEY’s Vision is to be the world’s most trusted company for providing customer-centric solutions by inspiring people, collaboration & performance.
SCIKEY’s Mission isto improve the lives of the people and enable businesses across the world by offering them best quality, value, insights & experience; through its marketplace network for talent & technology solutions. SCIKEY continues to invest in research & technology to fuel innovation and making people as well as businesses more productive, thereby becoming their trusted partner in this hyper-connected world.
Core belief: SCIKEY’s core values of Trust, Transparency & Excellence are the foundation of all the relationships, making those delightful and sustainable.
The global talent management software market size was valued at USD 6.26 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness a significant growth owing to its growing application scope in almost all the human capital-centric industries. The industry is undergoing a facelift with many new technologies disrupting the workforce management in organizations, of which cloud and data analytics are the most prominent ones.
A recent report published by McKinsey indicates that the digital talent marketplaces driving the so called “gig economy” could play a significant role in increasing global GDP by $2.7 Trillion by 2025.
Market Details:
Total addressable market: $100 bn +
Serviceable Available Market: $1 bn +
Serviceable Obtainable Market: $100 mn +
The geographical split of SCIKEY’s market is as follow:
India – 10%
North America – 30%
Europe – 20%
Asia (minus India) – 40%
HR Tech industry:
Asia HR Management industry is anticipated to be USD 40 Billion by 2027 growing @ CAGR – 11.7% (Grand View Research, Feb 2020)
Global HR Tech Marketplace – USD 400 Billion (Deloitte Reports)
HR Tech Market Size In Asia – USD 9 Billion (Grand View Research, Feb 2020)
Robotics / AI Based HR Tech Market – USD 6 Billion (People Matters)
Alok Kumar is the founder of SCIKEY. Akshay Sharma and Karunjit Kumar Dhir are the Co-founders of SCIKEY.
SCIKEY is the brain child of Alok Kumar. Shriram & Akshay had met & worked with Alok as a part of his team, before Alok moved out to build SCIKEY. Interestingly, Karunjit had first met Alok in 2007, when he was helping Alok as his customer to setup their offshore captive in India.
Since then, they built a great chemistry & mutual respect but Karun moved out of India in 2014 and so little did they know that they will again get to work some amazing stuff together until thatdinner invitation in 2018. Karun had moved out from his last corporate stint in Malaysia and was taking a short break to visit India to spend some time with his family. It was during this trip back home where Alok invited Karun for catchup over a dinner where he shared his vision of SCIKEY to Karun. Alok was inspired by some of Karun’s critical inputs & prior experience of building multiple technology businesses ground up in multiple global markets, thereby invited him to be a part of the Co-Founding team at SCIKEY; and the rest is history.
SCIKEY’s core team’s tasks –
Alok Kumar – Founder
Akshay Sharma– the owner of R&D & works closely with Alok & Karun on key business boosters like research, automation, growth hacking etc.,
Karunjit Kumar Dhir – owner for the branding, business development, revenue growth & global expansion, investors & fundraising, Finance
SCIKEY’s work culture is built around the core values of trust, transparency & excellence leading to mutual respect, happiness & sustainability.
SCIKEY’s hiring funda has an interesting framework, named ‘DISCO Framework’
D – Dependability (can I just talk to you once & be assured the job is done without any follow-ups or even better can you pro-actively get the job done?)
I – Integrity & Ethics (how much can I trust you & be assured that you will always do the right thing even when no one is watching you?)
S – Solution Mindset & an attitude of sharing (every business will have many problems to solve & so are you the one who will provide solutions or just restate the problems back to us? And, even when you solve problems, will you share the credit with your team or always fly solo?)
C – Curiosity (Can you challenge the Status Quo & imagine better? Are you good with ‘Why’ and ‘Why not’?)
O – Openness (Are you humble, open to feedback, correction, change, to Learn, Unlearn & Relearn?)
The Founders & Team section of the post already covered the part on how the Core team of SCIKEY was formed. Let’s see what else it took to start SCIKEY.
SCIKEY’s founding team have lead multiple companies in different roles (including CXO) as well as geographies and were mostly involved in building products, teams, delivery centers ground up etc., Therefore, quite often they found themselves in a situation where they had to go through the painful experience of dealing with multiple vendors and service providers for sourcing the required talent or even the right technology solutions & providers.
“It used to be a very time consuming & inefficient exercise with a direct negative impact on business and ROI” Says Akshay Sharma (Co-founder, SCIKEY)
Another big related parallel problem that they always encountered was the productivity issues of the teams or people who were sourced by their talent partners and the resulting losses for the company as an outcome of that. These prevalent issues motivated the team to seriously think of a solution that later took the shape of SCIKEY.
Even, other peers from the industry acknowledged the problem, but no one was trying to solve it with an effective workable solution. So most of the ideation happened internally. They collected feedback from the CXOs or top leaders in the industries who were directly responsible for building and running profitable companies of different shapes & sizes (right from funded start-ups to global fortune MNCs). This helped the SCIKEY team to learn the root-cause of the problem and by connecting the dots from personal experience + Inputs from leaders, they decided to build SCIKEY! Arobust platform and a business model that can be scaled to service the needs of a global audience.
The way this world moved from offline to online banking, offline retail to e-commerce, offline taxis to e-hailing and more. SCIKEY also started with taking the entire experience of sourcing talent & technology solutions online.
On SCIKEY’s platform, the entire transaction – right from talent & technology sourcing to delivery happens online. It aims to organize the talent & technology solutions marketplace online.
SCIKEY is primarily automating most of the mechanical things but going big on the human touch. It’s about helping the generally overloaded talent & technology sourcing teams, with a solution that eases their life and helps them add real value to the business by being a “business partner” in its true sense. It is about streamlining the process end-to-end (that is otherwise largely fragmented) not only to achieve exceptional business outcomes, but also offering a great user experience, that is missing generally.
And then came Covid19, which further disrupted & redefined the future of work and how the businesses look at getting their talent and technology solutions right. The Future of Work & Workforce is very different from what it has been all these years. We now live in a post-COVID world. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital, virtual as well as remote solutions but the large part of talent & technology solutions market is still serviced manually (via a handful of the tools that do not offer a complete end-to-end solution or assured outcomes).
Customers now expect a great Experience (Personalized), Convenience (Anywhere & Real-time access), Value (Ongoing), Choices (Faster Fulfilment) & Insights (that impact Business Outcomes). And this is where SCIKEY helps!
SCIKEY offers a digital, connected & intuitive experience over a secure cloud-based platform for best outcomes & productivity, leveraging technology, Crowdsourcing (Onsite, Offshore, Remote), Community & Automation to deliver best of the solution and insights that impact business outcomes.
Research & IP Focus – Patent filed for the SCIKEY MindMatch algorithm & research presented at the United Nations(Geneva) twice. Unique “Managed Marketplace” business model that leverages advanced tech enabled crowd-sourcing of talent & technology solutions in a single online platform making it highly elastic, scalable & cost-efficient.
Solid founding team with decades of proven industry leadership experience selling large solutions & building high-growth business in multiple global markets from scratch; and prior experience of working together.
Deep domain as well as technical expertise.
Astute focus on unit economics and hence a cash-positive business already.
SCIKEY emerged from the combination of two important words that form the generis of the team’s approach behind building this platform –
Scientific (backed by research & data) + Key (of crucial importance) = SCIKEY
“We have always seen SCIKEY as a solution to some of the ‘key’ problems of our potential customers and we genuinely believe in the power of scientific input(data) in this hyper-connected world that we live in. and, that is how we decided to go with Sci + Key = SCIKEY” Says the team.
SCIKEY LOGO
It’s not only the SCIKEY name that has deep meaning and relevance but the colors represented in the SCIKEY logo also has notions behind it.
Colors convey emotions & evoke thoughts. The 6 colors in the SCIKEY’s logo convey the emotions of the brand. It represents the possibility of looking at a problem in 6 different ways to evaluate multiple potential solutions as well as personalities coming together to solve the problem.
Blue – A color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
Green – Resembling nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark greenis also commonly associated with money.
Yellow – The most luminous of all the colorsof the spectrum. It’s the colorof happiness, and optimism, of enlightenment and creativity, sunshine and spring.
Orange – It combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.
Red – A color of passion and adventure.
Grey – In colorpsychology, grey represents neutrality and balance.
SCIKEY – Business Model and Revenue Model
SCIKEY operates mainly on a SaaS model. SCIKEY’s revenue model is based on –
Transaction Fee – 15-30% of the sale value from the marketplace network
Micro-payments – $10 – $200 for various features, add-ons, reports, assessments monetized from its network
Subscription – for some of the ‘ABC-as-a-Service’ components & certain Premium Features for buyers as well as sellers on the platform
Managed Services & Consulting – especially for the Offshore & Remote Work solutions plus other premium offerings
Since beginning, SCIKEY was a research focused company. The team was already working with various professionals, businesses, institutions as well as universities/colleges on multiple research projects as well as pilots for some of the components of the platform. At start, it was not the same full-fledged platform like what one can see today, it was more of independent pieces or modules; largely to gather research data as well as user feedback.
For acquiring the first 100 customers , the team relied heavily upon customer referrals and LinkedIn. SCIKEY hasn’t been spending huge money on growth hacking as yet.
“We are a team that firmly believes in achieving an organic growth (even if it is slower initially) fueled by the thought leadership & brand authority as against burning big bucks to get quick hype. A quick hype is directly proportional to the burn-rate and tapers down as soon as the money fades away” added Akshay.
SCIKEY majorly focused on customer retention and repeat users. All they did was –
Listening to customers feedback, to incorporate it back in improving the product
Keeping its paid user acquisition burn to a minimum or zero
Continuously working towards improving the quality of experience & outcomes the customers/ users get from SCIKEY; as that makes us cash positive as well as sustainable.
SCIKEY founders are a big fan of frugal innovation & Zero cost marketing.
Whoever SCIKEY reached out to said this – “Hey, you guys have built such a great product. What progressive thinking, but how come we never heard of SCIKEY before? do you have any customer references? “
The major challenged faced by the team was that nobody knew SCIKEY in the market. It took a lot of effort and time to get even a demo booked (As per the sales team)
SCIKEY does not have a significant marketing budget & hence there is not much one can do. (As per all the Marketing Managers, Digital Marketing folks who applied for a role with SCIKEY but never joined)
This was one of our biggest challenges in the early days – Everyone we meet likes us (Team & product both) but as they have never heard of the brand before, they did not have much confidence to take the plunge & come on board as a paid customer – Said Akshay (Co-founder, SCIKEY)
This is what inspired SCIKEY’s team to get a lot more active on LinkedIn to create awareness and build engagement around the brand SCIKEY. Therefore, after 100s of posts, garnering 1,000s of cumulative views with an average of 2K+ and the highest of 10K+ views with many trending posts in multiple hashtags, a series of blogs and authored articles published; finally making it to the deal table and signing paid customers is what makes SCIKEY proud.
SCIKEY – Marketing Campaign/Strategies Adopted
SCIKEY’s 2 trending Marketing campaign –
Women’s day Campaign – #SheTakesTheLead
The idea was to promote women hiring for executive positions and challenge the status quo. Globally only 1 in 5 C -level Executives is a woman. This is because of displaced cultural norms. SCIKEY, with this campaign wanted to promote, from this women’s day that a woman will take the lead and the ecosystem should come together to support them.
To promote this idea. SCIKEY did a short ad film.
SCIKEY also acknowledged women leaders who broke the metaphorical glass ceiling, the society odds and has taken the lead in their own way. SCIKEY interviewed various women leaders to share their personal stories, how they overcame the gender challenges & despite of so many odds, how they succeeded to become what they are today.
SCIKEY Leader Speak Series
Under this initiative, SCIKEY interviewed Thought Leaders from the Business and HR space where they shared their perspective about the future of workforce, future of work, best strategies to lead the change & business. SCIKEY promoted these interviews on all of their social media channels, website & newsletters. Each leader further shared the interview in their own network. This has given SCIKEY a greater organic reach, trust, and credibility in decision makers fraternity.
SCIKEY was awarded the “Top 20 Most promising HR-Tech startups – 2020” by the CIOReview
AI powered platform with Research & IP focus – patent filed for the SCIKEY MindMatch algorithm that was presented at the United Nations(Geneva) also twice
Deloitte Technology fast 50 winner for 2020
SCIKEY – Competitors
Remote.com, Upwork and LinkedIn are the top competitors of SCIKEY.
Remote.com
Remote helps companies of all sizes hire top talent all over the world, in full compliance with local laws. It is a global platform for distributed teams. Remote makes it easy to onboard, pay, and delight remote employees and contractors.
Upwork
Upwork connects businesses of all sizes to freelancers, independent professionals, and agencies for all their hiring needs.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn platform is mainly used for professional networking, and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs.
Over the next 1-2 years, SCIKEY aims to grow the customer base by at least a 5x and the revenue by 2-3x. While growing its partners by 5x and member users to at least a few million. SCIKEY is also planning to venture into new markets like Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Australia.
SCIKEY – FAQs
What is SCIKEY.ai?
SCIKEY is a marketplace network for talent & technology solutions
What does the word ‘SCIKEY’ mean?
SCIKEY has emerged from the combination of two important words that form the generis of the team’s approach behind building this platform – Scientific (backed by research & data) + Key (of crucial importance) = SCIKEY
Who are the founders of SCIKEY?
Alok Kumar is the founder of SCIKEY. Akshay Sharma and Karunjit Kumar Dhir are the Co-founders of SCIKEY.
How much funding has SCIKEY raised?
SCIKEY had funding of USD 3.5 Million in 2016.
Who are the competitors of SCIKEY?
Remote.com, Upwork and LinkedIn are the top competitors of SCIKEY.
When was SCIKEY founded?
SCIKEY was founded in the year 2016 by Alok Kumar.
Jio is the largest telecom operator in India and is the third-largest operator in the world. During the year 2020, the company had raised an amount of INR 1,52,056 crores by selling their stake of around 32.97%. This helped the company in coming up with new products and making the services affordable to the consumers.
The company is said to launch its new product JioBook. After years of speculation, it is believed that the product is in the Engineering Validation test stage.
JioBook is a laptop going to be launched by Reliance Jio. Just like any other product of Jio, this laptop is said to be affordable and would attract a lot of customers. As per the speculations the price of the laptop would start from INR 10,000 onwards.
In order to make affordable JioBook laptops in India, the company had partnered with Bluebank Communication Technology which is based in China. Bluebank Communication technology is a well-known software company that develops software for third parties and creates mobile devices. Bluebank has also worked in developing the popular OS used on Jio Phones which is known as KaiOS.
The news of Jio launching the laptop came out in 2018, when Qualcomm announced that it was in talks with Reliance Jio to launch laptops in India that are affordable with cellular connectivity. After that, there were lot of speculations about the launch of the laptop. After years of wait, Jio finally announced that they will be launching their laptops soon in the market.
It has also been said that the price range of the JioBook laptop would differ according to their storage options and different models.
According to the reports JioBook laptop is expected to be an android based laptop by XDA developers. The android operating system UI will be called JioOS. The laptop will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset with the support of Snapdragon X12.
JioBook laptop is said to support 4G LTE and would have a display of 720P HD. The laptop is said to have a screen resolution of 1366 x 768. It will run on the JioOS.
The JioBook laptop would come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory. It is an internal storage card used in portable devices. Apart from all these features, the laptop would have features that include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz connectivity, and so on.
The laptop will come with all Jio-apps installed to ensure that JioBook is affordable to consumers.
JioBook laptops would be the most affordable laptop ever introduced in the country. Earlier Jio had introduced JioPhones which disrupted the entire industry. Since the launch of Jio sim in 2016 the company has been trying to come up with affordable products.
In the beginning stages, Jio sims were given for free with free internet access and unlimited calls and now Jio sim has the greatest number of subscribers in the telecom industry. Reliance Jio has the majority market share in the telecom industry with over 35.7% and 404.12 million users.
Telecom Subscriber Market Share
The low-cost JioPhone which was launched later on helped millions of users to shift to 4G from their 2G enabled phones. Reliance Jio provided JioPhones for INR 1,500 with an inbuilt OS system which helped the users use Facebook, Google and a lot of other apps.
According to the reports from Reliance Jio, in just a span of 2 years, they had sold around 70 million JioPhones.
One of the other reasons why consumers choose Jio is its offers provided such as subscriptions to OTT platforms, cashback, etc. Buyers who bought JioPhone early were provided free voice calls and 4G data for a year.
Jio is trying to use the same strategy used in JioPhones and Jio sims with the plans to launch JioBook. The company will try to capture the laptop industry with the launch of its JioBook laptop.
FAQ
What will be the Specs of JioBook laptop?
JioBook laptop will come with a storage facility of 32/64 GB with an eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Card) 5.1 memory, with support of 4G LTE and a display of 720P HD.
What is the expected price of JioBook laptop?
The expected price of JioBook laptop is 10,000.
When will JioBook laptop be launched?
JioBook laptop will may be launched at the Reliance Annual General Meeting likely to be held in July 2021.
Conclusion
Jio has announced a lot of other products which include Jio Glass for video call with the support of holographic. Jio is also planning for an affordable android phones which will be priced at the range of INR 4,000. The android phone will be manufactured with the partnership with Google.
The company has received a lot of funding last year from the biggest companies around the world. This has led Jio to overcome the major hurdles in the Industry making it the leading company in India. JioBook laptops are expected to launch soon. However, there have not been any official announcements regarding the launch of the laptops. The announcement is expected to be during the next Annual General Meeting of the company.
Cybersecurity is at the tipping point entering 2021. Advances in AI and ML are accelerating its technological progress. Technology which can take us forward and empower us, can also show the flip side that is Cyber Crime. By creating cybersecurity systems that encourage diversity and value equality, we can help ensure that technology, innovation, and the future, will be better. We’ve listed technology used in cyber security in this article.
These evolving Cyber security technologies list can help protect your organization.
The future of cybersecurity is in high-speed quantum encryption as Cyber war-fare gets graver day-by-day.
If we look at some trends, then it’s observed that cybercrime is costing organizations on average $3.9 million of data breaches every year around the world. Global scalability of Cybercrime is becoming easier for attackers, as criminals find new business models. It is one of the reasons that 55% of the organizations work together with external partners to reduce security risks.
Technology and security go hand in hand. There’s always have been a war between data defenders and data thieves, so you have to take a stand and be infosec warriors. Here is list of top 5 emerging security technologies that may be of great help.
Top 5 Emerging Technologies That Are The Future Of Cybersecurity
Hardware Authentication
Hardware Authentication is the future of cybersecurity. This approach is used as user authentication that relies on a device like smartphones, laptops, or any hardware systems held by an authorized user. This could be in the form of a basic password or fingerprints to grant access to the device.
The dearth of usernames and passwords are well known, so, a more secure form of authentication is needed. Hardware authentication is an important feature for the Internet of Things (IoT), where a network wants to ensure that the thing trying to gain access to it is something that should have access to it.
One limitation of hardware authentication devices is that they can be lost or stolen, which can create login issues for users.
AI is compared as technology that appears to emulate human performance typically by learning, including conclusions, analyzing complex content, engaging in natural dialog with people, enhancing human cognitive performance and, the major one is replacing people on execution of non-routine tasks.
AI technologies can be used to protect data against increasingly sophisticated and malicious malware, ransomware, and social engineering attacks. AI is not conscious yet, but there is likely a future in AI cognitive autonomy in predicting and mitigating cyber-attacks.
Rediscover the technology behind cybersecurity
If we look otherwise AI and ML go hand in hand in every respect. It basically gets a computer to act without much programming. It combines with AI and is one of the rapid automation of predictive analytics.
ML can provide the fastest way to identify new cyber-attacks, draw statistical inferences, and push that information to endpoint security platforms. Threat intelligence is one of the special cases where AI and ML can be an important functionality for cybersecurity. AI and ML could help with identity management by cross-checking the veracity of data across multiple fragmented databases. Hence, AI and ML are definitely the future of the cybersecurity.
% of AI Cybersecurity for the folloeing areas in organisation
Automated and Adaptive Networks
Automated networks can change the future of cybersecurity. Automation allows for scanning and monitoring of connected networks that can report on deviations and anomalies in real-time. The automatic updating of Defence framework layers i.e. network, endpoint, firewalls, payload and anti-virus; and diagnostic and forensics analysis for cybersecurity. AI and ML can be one of the major components and support applications of these networks.
Cyber Security Competence Survey in different areas
Blockchain Cybersecurity
It is one of the potentially strong cybersecurity technologies that’s rising stupendously. The blockchain technology works on the basis of identification between two transaction parties so this type of security works on the basis of peer-to-peer fundamentals. It offers authentication and resolving a single point of attack simultaneously.
With the help of blockchain technology, a security system used in a company can leverage a distributed public key infrastructure for authenticating devices and users. The use of Blockchain technology with AI can set-up a robust authenticated verification system to keep potential cyber threats at bay. It’s the future of cybersecurity.
Zero Trust model is a response to a breakdown in traditional security models. The zero-trust security model is based on the principle of maintaining strict access controls and not trusting anyone by default, even those already inside the network perimeter. The goal is to use authentication throughout the course to re-ensure security—but in a thoughtful and limited manner, to avoid unduly burdening the user. The key is to know when a re-authentication has actually become necessary due to some malicious or simply anomalous event taking place. This is how the combination of identity technology with application and API protection technology comes into play.
In spite of these technologies and many more upcoming smart cybersecurity techniques, organizations do face a lot of phishing scams. So, have you ever wondered how these Malware actually look like or what are the challenges?
Challenges That Organizations Face With Cybersecurity
Continuous Security Incidences And Breaches
Ineffective Responses And Security Protocols
Too Few Responders are Available for 24/7 Support
Employees are Afraid of Security Threats at Work
Many Organizations are still Unprepared For Security Threats
Phishing Scammers Target Senior Decision-Makers
Increased Weekly Volume of Suspicious Emails
Lack of Training about Security Threats and Scams
To Strengthen Cybersecurity
The upsurge in technology and digital connectivity and more and more cyber-threats has promulgated the need for smart cybersecurity. Smart Cybersecurity is an intellect reflex to manage risk by lessening security gaps that often occurred by reliance on manual processes that are impacted by a continual cybersecurity skills shortage and the administrative burdens of data security management.
A myriad of upcoming technologies can help us enhance cybersecurity and guide the increasingly malicious and disruptive cyber threat landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
Does cybersecurity have a future?
Cybersecurity is at the tipping point entering 2020. Advances in AI and ML are accelerating its technological progress. Technology which can take us forward and empower us, can also show the flip side that is Cyber Crime. By creating cybersecurity systems that encourage diversity and value equality now, we can help to ensure that technology, innovation, and the future, will be better.
Will cybersecurity die?
Cybersecurity will never die. Cybersecurity is at the tipping point entering 2020. Advances in AI and ML are accelerating its technological progress. Technology which can take us forward and empower us, can also show the flip side that is Cyber Crime. By creating cybersecurity systems that encourage diversity and value equality now, we can help to ensure that technology, innovation, and the future, will be better.
Is cybersecurity a good field?
Yes, definitely cybersecurity is one of the growing things in India. Cybersecurity is at the tipping point entering 2020. Advances in AI and ML are accelerating its technological progress.
Why AI is the future of cybersecurity?
AI is compared as a technology that appears to emulate human performance typically by learning, including conclusions, analyzing complex content, engaging in natural dialogs with people, enhancing human cognitive performance and, the major one is replacing people on execution of non-routine tasks. AI technologies can be used to protect data against increasingly sophisticated and malicious malware, ransomware, and social engineering attacks. AI is not conscious yet, but there is likely a future in AI cognitive autonomy in predicting and mitigating cyber-attacks.
Will AI take over cyber security?
No, AI technologies can be used to protect data against increasingly sophisticated and malicious malware, ransomware, and social engineering attacks but cannot fully overtake cybersecurity. AI is not conscious yet, but there is likely a future in AI cognitive autonomy in predicting and mitigating cyber-attacks.
Technology has an impact on every industry. The recruitment industry has also been influenced by various technologies in past. The industry is experiencing rapid growth as a new players are entering the market. Technology has advanced at a ridiculous pace in the last ten years. Every company should be updated about upcoming tech trends in the market. As we near the end of 2020 lets look at some Top Tech Trends Every HR Must know in 2021.
Top 7 Tech Trends Every HR Must Look Out for in 2021
Artificial Intelligence in The Recruitment Process
HR tech trends in 2021
One of the most well known tech trend in HR is the use of Artificial intelligence which growing exponentially in every field from health to teaching to everything. In 2021, AI will play a major role in the recruitment and hiring process. AI can save the time of recruiters to screen and shortlist candidates. The recruitment process will also speed up with the help of AI as it can answer repetitive questions through a chatbot.
Every organization wants to improve workforce engagement. As an HR it is important to ensure that your employees are passionate about their jobs. Various feedback tools are available to improve the workplace environment and employee engagement tools for employees. There’s a lot of distractions in the modern workplace, especially for employees who use internet-connected devices to complete their daily tasks. These feedback tools will help management to better understand their employees. There are various Employee Engagement Software and Tools in 2021
On the Job Training
On the job training is an important top trends of HR that helps in the prosperous growth of the organization. Employees require continuous mentorship and skill development training to perform well in their jobs. On job training helps employees get business demands met more promptly. This also develops a great mindset of always learning in employees. Many companies have adopted Different Policies to Upskill the Employees.
Top HR trends of 2021
Employee Experience Platforms
There are various platforms available to rate companies on their Employee Experience. Employees don’t hesitate to share their experience on these platforms which can affect the company’s reputation. A positive employee experience makes it easier for companies to attract top talent in this competitive market. This generation is the largest part of the workforce and it is important to join millennials in your workforce.
Many organizations employ data analytics tools in human resources to improve hiring decisions. It can also help to identify factors that have the most significant influence on the employee. Employee data can be used to create a personalized experience to engage employees. Data analytics can be presented visually in graphics or statistical reports to better understand and take action.
Technology has advanced at a ridiculous pace in the last ten years. HR needs to identify the best workforce for their organization. The impact of technology has also enhanced the hiring experience for both the candidates and the hiring teams. Various tools and technologies are available for HR to facilitate the recruitment process.
Cloud based HR
The HR department is known to help key functions such as recruiting, managing the data of the employees managing the employees performance, hiring, etc. One thing they all have in common is data processing. Before the cloud based solutions like PeopleSoft, the HR managers would take care of all these details. Which is why with the introduction with cloud based HR solutions improving the process of hiring, getting an employer brand and updating information and data security.
Giving importance of the employees mental health
The mental health of the employees must be given importance because they are what make or break the company. For taking care of their wellbeing the HR department can hold a weekly office yoga session or a healthy Friday. Not only that the the physical, and financial health of the employees must also be given equal importance. And as such, the number one condition when it comes to getting your workforce ready for the future.
Frequently asked questions – FAQs
What do HR department do?
The HR takes care of the employer branding, recruitment or selection, Onboarding, performance management, learning and development and most importantly workplace safety and culture.
What does a HR manager do?
The HR manager has a lot of responsibilities such as managing their internal team, stakeholder management, making new policies for recruitment etc.
What does an HR analyst do?
The HR analyst works on the collection, analysis, and reporting of data.
Why is adding new tech trends important for the HR?
Adding new tech trends to the HR departments in improving the HR policies, growth of organisation helps in performing the basic functions of HR like recruiting, onboarding, training the employees, etc.
Paytm was established in 2010 and its parent company is One97. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of the company. Paytm has received a series of funding rounds from popular investors such as the Alibaba Group, Ratan Tata, Mountain Capital, etc. Smartphones with Android, iOS or Windows operating systems have Paytm services available to them.
Paytm is a leader in the industry of digital payments. Paytm is an Indian mobile app and online service which is used for making payments like recharging your phone or paying your bills and also allows user to transfer money over the Paytm wallet. Debit and credit cards are the modes selected for these transactions. This prompted many to use Paytm as the government concentrated on cashless transactions.
Paytm or Phonepe, which app meets your requirements
Paytm’s Marketing Strategies
Paytm introduces cashless transaction schemes
The potential market for online marketing as well as cashless transactions has also increased with the growth of mobile phone users in the world. The company has been able to hit the customers with smart phones with its cashless transaction schemes.
Operating system that supports Paytm
Paytm launched ‘Each one, teach one’ to increase cashless payments literacy – Back in 2016,the company had announced Rs. 2100 in scholarship for 10,000 users who help increase digital inclusion and adoption of Paytm and certificates for one lakh further users across all major districts.
Paytm had also announced an incentive including Rs. one crore grand prize along with additional prizes like motorcycles, smartphones, laptops and other exciting gifts. All users transacting between 1st December 2016 and 31st March 2017 were eligible to win these prizes.
The ‘Scan any QR to pay using Paytm’ scheme has been launched in seven languages which are Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
Paytm’s Cobranding
Another USP of the company is co-branding. Brand cooperation with businesses such as Uber and Meru Cabs has been successfully developed. Many more reputable brands have been helpful in getting new customers to use Paytm.
Newspaper, transit media and television were the company’s offline communication networks. The Paytm promotions also used digital, print media and radio services.
Paytm was made a household name, using a phrase from the catchy word “Paytm karo”
The company’s online advertisement strategy is focused on bringing visibility everywhere by sharing their ad on Facebook and Twitter, and even sponsored posts on Instagram and at time’s even Snapchat.
Paytm’s Discount Offers
The biggest selling point for paytm was without question motivating people to use the offers that have been run by the company.
Add to these the cashback offers and discounts offered by mobile wallets like Paytm, as well as the reward points and loyalty benefits on existing credit and store cards.
Events sponsored by Paytm
The company was involved in sponsoring a variety of events, tournaments, etc. that gave the brand an immense exposure.
Paytm is the official sponsor and supporter of India’s cricket team, which would give the brand worldwide publicity and exposure.
The company has got 120 seconds of airtime for each match played on the tournament, and the brands popularity increased during the World Cup has resulted in the launch of new TV advertisements during the IPL 8 season.
Campaigns made by Paytm
Here is a list of the successful campaigns and partnerships with leading brand run by Paytm:
Paytm Karo
This is one of the key announcements that rapidly gained populism. The company has become active in social media. #PaytmKaro is being added to almost every conversation that is being driven on Facebook and Twitter. The ad rolls out some life situations such as money transfer, online shopping, mobile recharge which are made easy by Paytm services.
Facebook Live
Paytm has imbibed its customers with details about the value of user account security and how they are protected against hacking. Paytm conducted a series of live Facebook training series, “Paytm Merchant Connect- Training Series” which turned out to be a great success.
The Soldier Mobile Game
It’s become a perfect campaign for technology-friendly people and game lovers throughout the world. The match reveals the battle against the dishonest militias of Spartan Paytm troops. The game targets the mission of the company of protecting its users interests.
Credit cards
The card’s use was beneficial when the wallet was successfully used by the company. By using the Username and Passwords customers can withdraw money from their wallet reservations.
Dabbawallas in Mumbai
Strategic ties between the business and the competent lunch servers in Mumbai City. These messengers only pay through the Paytm App.
Auto-start of the SMS for a month:
Paytm continues to send customers reminders regarding payments. The messages are intended to notify the customer that the digital wallet can be used to make those payments easily.
MBA contest
A contest held for students attending MBA courses are invited to produce a video about the use of the paytm application. The winner will be the person whose videos receive the maximum number of likes.
Conclusion
Paytm has successfully induced Indians to rely on the use of cash in regular daily businesses. Instead, people in the country prefer to make digital payments for such transactions. There’s one initiative called Aadat Se Azadi or Habit Free. This is achieved by highlighting problems facing people when dealing with cash. It was also stressed why and how people feel insecure when they go out with plenty of cash.
More than 150 million people actively use Paytm wallets for making online transactions.
2. How many merchants have accepted Paytm as mode of payment?
3 million merchants accept Paytm as a mode of payment.
3. What is the process of using Paytm?
Utilizing net banking, credit/debit cards, IMPS or any other way listed on the bank you have to move some money when you are registered with Paytm. In order to pay you scan the cod or type in the number of the vendor.
4. How can you identify if a store uses Paytm?
In addition, the blue Paytm logo can easily be identified. The physical presence of the brand is attributed to the presence of stickers, hanged posters, Paytm posters etc helps users to identify if payment can be made through Paytm.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
Alphabet, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the business of acquisition and operation of different companies. It operates through the Google and Other Bets segments. The Google segment includes its main Internet products such as ads, Android, Chrome, hardware, Google Cloud, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.
The Other Bets segment consists of businesses such as Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Verily, Waymo, and X. The company was founded by Lawrence E. Page and Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin on October 2, 2015 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA.
Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. The two co-founders of Google remained as controlling shareholders, board members, and employees at Alphabet. Alphabet is the world’s fourth-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world’s most valuable companies.
The establishment of Alphabet Inc. was prompted by a desire to make the core Google business “cleaner and more accountable” while allowing greater autonomy to group companies that operate in businesses other than Internet services. Page and Brin announced their resignation from their executive posts in December 2019, with the CEO role to be filled by Sundar Pichai, also the CEO of Google. Page and Brin remain co-founders, employees, board members, and controlling shareholders of Alphabet Inc.
Alphabet – Logo and its Meaning
The Alphabet logo uses the language of visual symbols to explain the differences between the companies, Google and itself. In comparison with the Google logo, it looks more serious, like a grown-up in comparison with a teenager.
Logo of Alphabet
Alphabet – Founder and History
Founders of Alphabet
On August 10, 2015, Google Inc. announced plans to create a new public holding company, Alphabet Inc. Google CEO Larry Page and Sergey Brin made this announcement in a blog post on Google’s official blog. Alphabet would be created to restructure Google by moving subsidiaries from Google to Alphabet, narrowing Google’s scope.
In his announcement, Page described the planned holding company as follows:
Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main internet products contained in Alphabet instead. Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related.
Page says the motivation behind the reorganization is to make Google “cleaner and more accountable and better”. He also said he wanted to improve “the transparency and oversight of what we’re doing”, and to allow greater control of unrelated companies.
Alphabet still keeps Google’s stock price history and trades under its former ticker symbols. Its website domain is abc.xyz (xyz was introduced in 2014). When asked about the new name, CEO Larry Page said that it was chosen because the alphabet is the building block of language, one of the most important innovations. He also said that it is the core of how the firm indexes with Google Search.
On December 3, 2019, Page and Brin jointly announced that they would step down from their respective roles, remaining as employees and still the majority vote on the board of directors. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, is to assume the CEO role at Alphabet while retaining the same at Google.
Alphabet – Mission
Alphabet’s mission statement says, “Empowering great entrepreneurs and companies to flourish. Investing at the scale of the opportunities and resources we see. Improving the transparency and oversight of what we’re doing. Making Google even better through greater focus.“
David Drummond – Senior Vice President of Corporate Development
Eric Schmidt – Executive Chairman
Barnaby James – Principal Software Engineer
Alphabet – Subsidiaries
Few of the main subsidiaries of Alphabet are Google, X, Sidewalks Lab, Waymo, Calico, Verily, Fitbit, Deepmind, Wing and Firebase.
Alphabet – Business Model
Alphabet, Inc. is a holding company for Google and several other firms formerly owned by Google. The corporation operates two reportable business segments:
Google – Consists of various Internet products, including Search, YouTube, Maps, Commerce, Ads, Android, Cloud, Apps, Chrome, and Google Play, as well as hardware products such as Chromebooks, Chromecast, and Nexus. This segment accounts for the vast majority of Alphabet’s revenues.
Other Bets – Consists of various operating segments that the company deems “not individually material” (do not meet certain quantitative thresholds). These include the companies Access/Google Fiber, Google Capital, Calico, Verily, Next, GV, and X, and other initiatives.
Alphabet has one primary revenue stream, online advertising from third parties. It is divided into two main categories:
Performance Advertising – Creates relevant ads that users click, resulting in direct connection with advertisers. Most of the third parties pay Alphabet when a user engages in the ads.
Brand Advertising – Increases users’ awareness of advertisers’ offerings through video, images, text, and interactive ads that play across different devices. Alphabet helps third parties display digital videos and other ad types to specific audience groups for their marketing campaigns.
Alphabet revenue for the twelve months ending September 30, 2020 was $171.704B, a 10.74% increase year-over-year. Rest of the years’ trends are :
Year
Amount
Percentage Change From Last Year
2019
$161.857B
+18.3%
2018
$136.819B
+23.42%
2017
$110.855B
+22.8%
Alphabet – Investments
Alphabet has made 11 investments. Their most recent investment was on Jul 15, 2020, when Cityblock Health raised $53.5M.
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
Jul 15, 2020
Cityblock Health
Series B
$53.5M
Jun 26, 2020
Oscar Health
Venture Round
$225M
May 7, 2020
Lime
Venture Round
$170M
May 7, 2020
Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners
Series A
$400M
Mar 2, 2020
Waymo
Venture Round
$2.3B
Aug 14, 2018
Oscar Health
Corporate Round
$375M
Jul 9, 2018
Lime
Series C
$335M
Jun 14, 2018
SpinLaunch
Series A
$40M
Jan 24, 2018
XtalPi
Series B
$15M
Nov 15, 2017
UnitedMasters
Series A
$70M
Alphabet – Acquisitions
An analysis of the company’s investments in 2017 suggested that it was the most active investor in that period, outdoing the capital arm of Intel and also its own best customer. Alphabet, Inc. acquired seven of its own capital-backed startups in the 2017 financial year, with Cisco second having acquired six of the company’s previous investments.
Flatiron Health, a startup founded by two former Google employees and backed by Alphabet, Inc., announced that it was to be acquired by health conglomerate Hoffmann-La Roche for $1.8 billion. The company provides electronic medical records and analysis to identify improved treatments for oncology patients
Growing Regulatory Risks – Alphabet formally acknowledged the government’s antitrust probe earlier this year, but it isn’t just U.S. federal law enforcement officials taking a harder look at Alphabet’s business practices. In addition to FTC and DOJ investigations, a coalition of state attorneys general are participating in an antitrust probe of the company. In Europe, Alphabet has faced record fines in recent years for antitrust violations, and the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust regulatory body, recently opened an investigation into Google’s data collection practices, and may include data related to local search services, advertising, ad targeting, login services, web browsers, and others, according to Reuters.
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that contrary to some of the company’s claims, it routinely intervenes in search results, even favouring the results generated by big businesses such as eBay over smaller ones. Any such activity is likely to draw the attention of regulators, as well.
Shoring Up Growth, Profits – For the third quarter, Alphabet posted a mixed earnings report that revealed better-than-expected revenue, but a hit to its earnings — earnings per share came in at $10.12 versus estimates of $12.42. One reason for that miss, as noted by RealMoney’s tech columnist Eric Jhonsa, was accelerating operating expense growth, along with spending on R&D, sales and marketing and other expenses. It also recorded a net loss in its equity investments last quarter, posting a loss of $1.53B loss versus a $1.38B gain in the third quarter of last year.
Alphabet’s reputation for secrecy often works against it when its updates to investors are mixed. After its first quarter earnings call, for example, Alphabet’s stock hit the skids for weeks — partly owing to management’s lack of clarity in explaining its missed quarterly revenue and how it might have been affected by changes to its ad products. Meanwhile, investors have expressed frustrations that Alphabet doesn’t break out YouTube revenue, although it’s been long presumed to be a top driver of ad revenue growth for Google.
Sceptical Employees – Alphabet is still one of the most sought-after employers in Silicon Valley. But a vocal contingent of its workers disagree with the company’s policies and direction. For instance, Pichai navigated Google through a worker revolt last year over Project Maven, a contract with the military to analyse drone footage. (Google did not renew the contract.)
Alphabet Inc., the parent company for the search engine Google, will look to become just the third US-listed company to enter the $1 trillion market cap club in 2020. The stock will need to rise by about 8% between now and the end of 2020 to join this exclusive club. It isn’t going to be an easy task for the equity, especially if earnings growth slows as analysts project.
The company has already made some interesting pivots heading into 2020. Most notably is at the very top, with Sundar Pichai the CEO of Google also becoming the CEO of Alphabet, taking over the position for co-founder Larry Page.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the company has offered a competitive platform that has lowered prices advertisers, giving consumers more choice, according to prepared remarks the executive made ahead of Wednesday’s hearing before the House Antitrust Subcommittee.
“A competitive digital ad marketplace gives publishers and advertisers, and therefore consumers, an enormous amount of choice,” Pichai stated. “For example, competition in ads — from Twitter, Instagram, Comcast and others — has helped lower online advertising costs by 40% over the last 10 years, with these saving passed down to consumers through lower prices.”
What if I told you that with a yearly/monthly subscription you’ll be able to successfully develop your skills and also get job offers simultaneously? Yes! It’s time to make that a reality with the help of LinkedIn Learning where you can access an entire learning library of content and learn new creative skills.
Not only that, LinkedIn Learning offers you job recommendations after you complete your courses in your LinkedIn profile. And also helps you enhance your learning experience through the means of video courses that come along with transcripts, exercises files and assessments. It then gives you feedback to your preferred course, while allowing you to view and download videos offline.
LinkedIn Learning Logo
LinkedIn Learning – About
LinkedIn Learning is an American based website that bridges the gap between the career you want and the skill you require. It mainly offers video courses taught by industry experts in creative, software and business skills. LinkedIn Learning is a subsidiary of LinkedIn which was founded by Lynda Weinman in the year of 1995. Formally known as Lynda.com, it was acquired by LinkedIn for $1.5 billion in 2015.
LinkedIn learning helps professionals learn with their own pace from the library that contains more than 12,000 creative, technology and business courses on any given subject.
These courses can be selected by employees as well as recommended by employers or their HR managers who can then use LinkedIn’s analytics to monitor the employee’s progress.
These tips are for the beginners to want to start out with learning new skills through this platform. In LinkedIn Learning the first thing someone should do is registration followed by picking out your interests.
According to the field of your interest the platform provides you 3 options/categories to choose from these include: Business, Creative and Technology. Business for example will include customer service, accounting, etc.
Then it guides the subscriber to the trending list and to the top liked and suggested videos (to give you an insight to the video that have better quality and content).
LinkedIn Learning caters to youngsters seeking for a job while developing their skills.
There are also have 3 ways through which you can filter out the course that people want to watch:
By Subject: To gain experience with a specific skill, this is the way to go. If you can pick a topic for example business then that would be HR, Finance and pick courses based on it.
Software: No matter your occupation there’s a solid chance that you need to know your way around several types of software.
Learning paths: Instead of having to look for random courses in a given field, you can simply pick your path and get a structured learning experience. learning courses offers course such as Online marketing foundations; SEO foundation; Google Analytics; Content marketing foundation; Lead generation foundation and growth hacking.
LinkedIn learning offers different versions of premium from which you can you can buy to cater to different types of business people. All of these paid services give the professional’s unlimited access to everything in LinkedIn learning. The premium costs $29.99 per month or $2239.88 per year which is the preferred level meant for job seekers and applicants. While the professional can also cancel during the first month and not pay anything, since it is free to try for the first month. However, after the free month, people can start paying if they want to stay onboard and continue learning from these courses.
Benefits of LinkedIn Learning:
Benefits of LinkedIn Learning
The company emphasis on education and learning as it goes hand in hand with the company’s primary role where people maintain their professional profiles publicly and look for jobs. While the LinkedIn Learning is just broadened platform that offers you to build on your professional skills.
This education platform is available only for the LinkedIn Premium subscribers who look like they will get more than 50 new courses every week available in various languages.
LinkedIn learning now has 14,000 enterprise customers, 17 million enterprise users and 12,000 high fidelity courses.
Video based tutorials are produced in house in their California studios.
There also a possibility of customizing your own content by making your own or from your organization.
The analytics will also inform them of their progress with the knowledge they gained or even the level of engagement and more.
·It also provides higher education facilities by special, verified profile pages to universities and colleges. Hence encouraging youngsters to get started on building their profiles.
This platform can be further used for connecting those young students into alumni job finding networks for the recruitment business.
These materials (PDF files and other related documents) can also be downloaded to watch offline.
The videos made on this platform are understandable and the teachers are business executives and other professional from different industries. They also provide you a certificate right after you finish the course.
LinkedIn Learning is powerful even if you’re not seeking for jobs
The platform is not just a job search booster, it is also a career booster for any professional who wants to stand out and advance their career faster. It can also help a professional get a raise or promotions with the completion of their LinkedIn Learning course. Doing all these course work can also help develop ones resume by mentioning it under the “skills” section. Example: Basics of Java Programming- LinkedIn Learning course completed on April 2020. During the times of the COVID pandemic people can make use of their time by self-educating themselves on various subjects by doing online courses with the help LinkedIn Learning.
Competitors of LinkedIn Learning:
Udemy: Udemy is a platform where you can create online video course and earn money by teaching people around the world. This platform helps people learn new skills and advance their careers by sharing your knowledge. It also helps businesses up skill their employees with virtual training.
Skillshare: Skillshare provides learning for the world’s most innovative companies. This platform gives business solution to maximize the creativity, engagement and develop the entire workforce. With skillshare for teams you can empower and inspire your teams with on demand classes, in person events, customized learning paths and world class teachers. There’s on demand classes, hands-on workshops and events.
Coursera: This platforms helps build your skills with courses, certificate and degrees online from various world class universities and companies. You can learn the latest skill like business analytics, Python, Graphic design and more. It helps people who are interested for a career in fields like IT, AI and cloud engineering with the help of coursera.
LinkedIn Learning now has more 17 million users and is among the top ten vendors providing such services. It has also recently introduced LinkedIn Learning Pro which is a big competitor for other Learning Experience Platforms such as Degreed, Coursera, Skillshare, etc. It has the potential to conquer the corporate learning market because of the quality of their videos. The Learning Pro edition helps you create your own pathways or even customize combination of courses by putting in different content from their site.
With the release ofCovid-19 rules and regulationsworldwide, many consumers and buyers are concerned about the safety of store visits. Busy streets and peak roads can be a concern for many. Governments around the world are recommending that people stay in their homes and disrupt the corona virus spreading network. According to some media, most people prefer to stay indoors. However, we need to shop for our essential things.
It may be the most urgent basic need (except for medical care), which can increase the risk of Contact the infected people. The corona virus threat is changing the order of the retail sector. It is limiting the number of shoppers, who can enter store at any time. Following societal segregation through guidelines, customers and employees focus on technologyand to help make purchases more secure. Technology has great impact on shopping.
Now our society uses more beacons, pointers, security cameras and payment solutions in an unprecedented way. Retailers are changing their offerings, or in some key cases, to better serve the retail market in the current epidemic. These are some examples of technology providers offering great solutions to improve social distance and improve buyer safety during this Covid-19. They are given below.
1. Robot deliveries and online shopping
The emergence of SARS in late 2002 led to an increase in the number of online business platforms for businesses and consumers. Some Beijing bars offer online shipping and ordering. Online shopping requires a robust logistics system. In the United States, many companies and restaurants in China have launched unconditional delivery services.
Online shopping discounts the rate
For taking inventory, they use robots instead of the person. China’s e-commerce giants are developing to send robots. However, before the distribution of robot delivery services, shipping companies must make a clear protocol to protect the sanitary condition of shipping materials.
The money transfer through physical contact could be a reason for spreading of virus. So the Central Bank has taken several steps to clean up China, the United States and South Korea. Digital wireless payment is the best payment method today, extending on cards or electronic wallets.
Digital payments promotes people to shop online, pay for goods, services and utilities, and get promotions faster. But there are more than 1.7 billion peoples who have no bank account for digital payments. The availability of digital payments depends on the availability of the Internet, equipment, and the network to convert money in to a digital format.
As ATM’s become major employers at the time of the epidemic, stores are looking for ways to reduce contact on payments. Walmart has introduced several ways to improve secure controls. For shoppers, the Walmart application encourages Touch-less paying by using Shoppers. The peoples, who download the application, can scan it with a built-in QR app for wireless purchases. Recent changes are that shoppers who make additional payment through the app are forced to touch the screen while making transactions.
3. Queue location technology – Sensors are used to limit store traffic
Supermarket giants “kroger” made headlines when the announced that it would use technology in the queue of the system to limit traffic within the store. Kroger now decided to limit the number of shoppers into only 50% of capacity in a store. Rather than relying on their workers to manually calculate how many people log in and log out, the company is using queue location technology. It is also used to count customers automatically and speed up exit lines.
People counting system
4. Indyme – warning buyers when they are close to each other
With the participation of buyers, Indyme is working on tools to raise awareness of the social space at the points of sale in real time. Called the Smart Dome, the device looks like such as a security camera. However, Smart Domes can really see where the buyers are and inform the messages to shoppers when lot of people around. Indyme says his specialty is Intense Speed, designed to work in grocery and stores and used in improvement stores.
5. Using robotics for auditing lists with computer perspective
People are weak. But robots are not. A robot named “Tally”, a self-propelled robot scanner, is used in places like Markets, big stores, inventory via camera, computer vision, and machine learning. Tally can set prices, product location and availability. It can also detect items that are out of stock or incorrect. Therobot that performs these taskswill pull employees out of the store aisles and promote social distancing practices in supermarkets.
6. Pathr – Activate spatial intelligence to rearrange fields
In the current crisis, Pathr has found a way to use his platform to increase the level of retail security. Pather’s special intelligence platform encourages machine learning and data analysis to discover how customers move in stores. The things like social distance, AI are influenced by the company’s current technology. It will help operators in large areas understand how diseases spread under specific conditions. The company reported that it was in contact with retailers to give brief description about the social distance.
The extent to which COVID-19 is contagious is clear, and some shoppers raise questions about the safety of online orders. Experts believe the virus can live three hours, depending on the materials. (It is difficult to make decision about the life of the virus, and as experts continue to study these, these numbers may change.). That is, COVID-19 will not be survived on product until you receive the items you purchased.
Loading truck on a warehouse
It also creates a difficult shipping environment because of COVID-19, so you may not be able to leave the package. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that taking COVID-19 packets is safe. Commercial products are less contaminated under the influence of different conditions and temperatures. Organized food retail services, such as Big Bazaar, zomato, Swiggy will increase the door-to-door shipments.
Courier companies, logistics companies, etc. are supporting storage and purchasing services. In logistics and goods, the role of local stalls, banks, cooperatives, market tops and entrepreneurs is important. Stages Organized retail companies / corporations can regulate the retail sector in terms of sanitation, awareness raising, close communication, performance, health and safety.
In the world of modern software development, the expectations of the software products we use are getting increasingly higher, and the demands on the team’s software development process are increasing proportionally.
In a world where distributed teams and remote work is here to stay, it is also of crucial importance to keep the development cycle open, transparent, and allowing more close collaboration on the team.
Teams seem to struggle with the same recurring issues: Code reviews that are taking forever, PRs that cannot get merged due to missing dependencies from other branches, an almost grotesque meantime to restore a bug and a missing overview of the lead time it takes to ship a new feature. These issues are exactly what inspired Simon to create Sigmetic.io to gain insight into these processes. Because, essentially, that is the only way we can start improving!
Sigmetic is a toolkit for the data-driven software team. It collects data from your GitHub organization and provides a full picture of the habits and trends in your team by exposing various KPI metrics from the team’s performance. The founder believes that continuous improvement starts with insight.
Sigmetic
We already have a series of useful tools for monitoring the performance of our servers and infrastructure, but if we really want to secure the quality of the products we ship, we need to start applying the same effort on monitoring the team’s development processes. That’s what Sigmetic is all about!
Sigmetic – Target Market Size
Sigmetic is in the industry somewhere between a productivity tool and an analytics tool. We mostly consider this a productivity tool for development teams, and according to BusinessWire, “the business productivity software market is expected to register a CAGR of 12.6% during the forecast period 2019-2024.”
We believe that analytics tools used for team behavior and performance will have a significant role in the future. With the rise of Machine Learning, we also believe that performance prediction and estimates will be impactful – an area where we see Sigmetic fit in the future.
How was Sigmetic Started?
In Simon’s career as a freelance consultant, he noticed how teams seem to struggle with the same recurring issues: Code reviews that are taking forever, PRs that cannot get merged due to missing dependencies from other branches, an almost grotesque meantime to restore a bug and a missing overview of the lead time it takes to ship a new feature.
Simon initially spoke with the managers that he was working with at the time, and they were thrilled about the idea. They had but one important request – the ability to embed the KPIs on their already existing dashboards. After talking to managers in other companies, there seemed to be a general interest in the idea, and the ability to easily embed the KPIs seemed to be a shared request as well.
The initial research was overly qualitative and feedback only came from a small set of managers from companies that Simon Høiberg, founder of Sigmetic, had worked with earlier.
He created 3 prototypes of embeddable KPI Widgets and created a landing page. He also added the ability to sign up for early access, offering a forever-free-account. The landing page went public and Sigmetic got a lot of interest and sign-ups.
The building blocks that make up Sigmetic, are the various KPI Widgets that you find in the Widget Library. You can use these widgets to compose your own dashboards exactly the way it makes sense to you and your team.
Sigmetic Dashboard
Sigmetic connects to your GitHub account and collects data from the developer behavior. This enables you to visualize metrics such as commit trends, issue burnup, meantime to review, and much more. It provides a full picture of the habits and trends in your team, but it also enables you to narrow in on the potential bottlenecks that may hold your team back.
“I guess we pivoted very slightly from the initial idea of Sigmetic, which was more oriented about performance – today, Sigmetic focuses more on trends and behavior”, says Simon, owner of Sigmetic.
Founders of Sigmetic and team
Simon Høiberg is the founder and CEO of Sigmetic.
Simon Høiberg with graphic designer/UX consultant that’s been a part of Sigmetic
He has two permanent consultants that are involved on a freelance basis. But they are not a core part of the team, per say.
Sigmetic – Startup Launch
Sigmetic’s primary channel of communication and marketing has been Twitter. The startup runs ads through its ad-program, but the biggest source of acquisition has been through content marketing.
I’m deeply passionate about open-source, so we have open-sourced one of the most essential parts of the technology stack, Direflow, which is used to create embeddable micro-frontends, says Simon, founder of Sigmetic.
Direflow was started just before the development of Sigmetic and has been a part of the very first prototype. Additionally, they’ve published blogs about how they build various parts of the platform, and – in general – been very generous with sharing as much as they can. That part has been the biggest lead-generator, by far.
Getting proper feedback, in the beginning, was surprisingly difficult! A lot of users were keen on signing up before the initial launch, and a lot of users immediately churned without leaving any kind of comment or feedback. When reaching out on email, users were mostly unresponsive.
The team implemented a chat directly in the application that would forward the message to a designated Slack channel. That helped a lot. They also benefited from channels such as Reddit’s startup for finding beta-testers. But generally speaking, getting people into a conversation was a huge challenge.
Parnas Ghosh
