Bridging the Gap: Why Hybrid Cloud Is Essential for Digital Transformation

Before we identify why a hybrid cloud is most effective in powering digital transformation, we need to know what this cloud model exactly is. 

The hybrid cloud environment is mixed where multiple applications can be powered by using both public and private clouds.

Solutions for hybrid clouds allow organizations to transfer workloads from one cloud ecosystem to another very different one. After that, they also enable organizations to come up with frameworks that are more flexible depending on the requirements of their businesses. 

That is the reason more organizations are now beginning to take up hybrid cloud platforms. They help them mitigate risks, cut down costs, and improve considerably their existing capacities, helping these organizations to step up their digital transformation drives. Enterprises, therefore, have realized the futility of depending totally on a solitary public cloud. 

With the increasing number of entities embracing digital transformation efforts, they are in a position to achieve their primary business objective of freeing data from data platforms that are restricting them from offering their customers better digital experiences. This also helps them access data better and allows them to make decisions more freely.

Furthermore, as organizations need to migrate data and applications gradually and thoroughly, they have to migrate from one cloud to another, thus leading to hybrid cloud deployments.  

In addition, hybrid cloud environments offer organizations better models to hasten digital transformation. They also allow organizations to continue making use of services on-premises and to leverage flexible alternatives to gather data and access applications that the public cloud providers offer.

Companies, these days, are gathering a lot of information about consumer behavior using online marketing tools, social media, and digital modes that help them gather significant inputs about the habits, activities, and requirements of their buyers. 

Such insights can be gathered only if the data is incorporated, assessed, and ingrained into their business activities to improve customer experiences. 

Before the onset of technology, vendors did not interact much with consumers. But, now, the power is in the hands of customers who decide the content and media they want to engage with. 

This has made marketers provide their customers with content that is personalized and appropriate. This content will have to contain relevant information about the products/services that these companies offer, including the value add they provide.     

Despite the Hydra Project in Hyderabad, buying real estate is still a wise investment

After the project of HYDRA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection Agency) was launched by the Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in July 2024, a few uninformed people resorted to riot-mongering, stating that the real-estate bubble of Telangana’s capital, Hyderabad, had burst.

Nothing is further from the truth. According to Savills Research 2024, Hyderabad is the fourth fastest-developing city in the world! How can this major Indian metropolis lose its shine just because of Hydra, the mission of which is only to remove unauthorized constructions to restore and revive lakes and ponds within its municipal corporation limits?

We are aware of operations coming to a standstill recently in Bengaluru and Chennai, specifically due to the construction of residential and commercial buildings on reclaimed land from tanks and lakes. So, Hydra is a move in the right direction to make Hyderabad a safer place to live.

Henceforth, real estate developers will develop residential apartments only in areas that will not be affected by heavy flooding caused by rains in the ‘City of Pearls.’ Isn’t this a positive development for the realty sector in Hyderabad going forward? It will help prospective buyers of apartments and villas in Hyderabad make informed decisions before they make a purchase. 

Appeal of Hyderabad to real estate buyers

Hyderabad started growing exponentially in the 1990s, as numerous information technology and pharmaceutical giants began setting up shops in the city. Many people are still unaware that Microsoft houses its largest IT hub outside of the United States in Hyderabad. Furthermore, Google zeroed in on Hyderabad in the first decade of the 21st century to set up one of its major offshore units in Asia.

Cognizant had recently announced that its employee headcount in Hyderabad was on par with its corporate head office located in Chennai. There are more such amazing facts that we in the city, which is renowned for its biryanis, are unaware of.

Facebook also followed suit. Meanwhile, MNCs such as Oracle, IBM, Qualcomm, Deloitte, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and others, besides Indian majors like TCS, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, etc., have all set up large development centers in the erstwhile capital of Andhra Pradesh. 

Keeping up with its image as a global city, Hyderabad’s physical infrastructure has been having a major makeover over the last 30 years. This has led to Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) becoming the fourth busiest airport in India.

The newer part of Hyderabad has experienced phenomenal infrastructure development and expansion, beginning from Banjara Hills, and extending to its western and southern suburbs, including Hitech City, Kondapur, Gachibowli, Raidurgam, Manikonda, Narsingi, and Kokapet, among others. Most of the real estate development in Hyderabad is happening in all these areas.

It is not just the IT professionals who are thronging to these neighborhoods. The Hyderabad real estate boom has been driven by other while-collared professionals and many NRIs from AP and Telangana who have bought or are planning to buy in these coveted locations. 

IT captains like Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, were born and raised in Hyderabad, in addition to many other C-level executives of major corporate companies worldwide. Most would want to retire or at least have a holiday home in India’s sixth-largest city.

Conclusion 

This write-up intends to set rest to fears that prospective real estate investors who have been eyeing Hyderabad but become cautious owing to the somewhat negative publicity it has received lately. 

What should you consider when applying for a startup grant

If you wish to apply for a startup grant, your revenue generation model is the major factor to consider. It should explain clearly how your setup will earn significantly.

Thereafter, you need to know how much your startup will have to bear in costs until it breaks even, which could be a minimum of one or more years.

Later, you need to state who your competitors are and explain how you intend to take on them by defining your unique selling proposition (USP) to the startup board.

You also need a management team with adequate expertise and experience to convince the grant-giving body that your business can run successfully.

Finally, you need to prepare a well-thought-out business plan that explains clearly and persuasively the plans of your startup.

 Why did Gates open the Windows?

Does Apple Cook well with Tim?

Can Meta leave an indelible Mark?

Why did Musk rate it an X’?

Why did the Sun choose to shine on Java?

Is Google an Alpha company? You Bet!

Why did Larry deliver an Oracle?

Did Deep Blue checkmate IBM’s rivals?

How long will Amazon still flow?

How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are Transforming Sales in the Pharmaceutical Industry

 

Studies have demonstrated that both artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have brought about a sea change in the pharmaceutical industry’s landscape by helping them sell better. They are able to achieve them by making clinical and research trials more efficient, augmenting innovations, aiding in devising new tools for physicians and end-users, besides helping the healthcare industry to make more informed decisions. 

The data in circulation in the pharma industry is humongous. It is gathered by pharma companies and hospitals when they undertake researches, R&D tasks, clinical trials and results of outcomes of wellness through several years. Until the end of the 20th Century, data was, however, analysed manually by healthcare specialists. But it bugged the pharma industry majorly by making data sharing and regulation difficult. 

With drug makers partnering with IT companies, researchers and others, they end up sharing the healthcare data of large chunks of the population. Although there is a lack of authorized regulatory framework the world over to enable the pharma sector to embrace AI, some companies have managed to put in place governance measures for such partnerships, allowing this vertical, as a whole, to benefit. 

Using AI and ML, the pharma industry has been able to increase the rate at which conditions are being diagnosed. The way diagnoses are being carried out has also improved. It is frustrating when the conditions of patients remain undiagnosed for prolonged periods. As the healthcare specialists remain unsuccessful at zeroing in on the right therapies, they wrest with various medical treatments to identify the right cures for problems. The major hurdle here is their helplessness to dig through past records of instances of treating patients with certain symptoms. 

On the other hand, machine learning helps pharma companies in tracking the medical histories of patients depending upon specific yardsticks, like symptoms, treatments, lab results, etc. This information will help in diagnosing conditions quickly and in an improved manner, tracking improvements and suggesting treatments to patients depending on their individual histories. 

Technologies like AI and ML also help healthcare professionals detect diseases before they strike patients based on their medical histories. In such cases, the right treatment can be recommended to them much earlier to prevent the outbreak of those ailments. Pharma companies, meanwhile, can use the same data to launch direct campaigns to advertise their medications and therapies. Alternately, they can build awareness where such conditions may be existing in certain untested people who may be having them. In addition to boosting the sales of the pharmaceutical companies, they also help them in identifying individuals who may be at risk.  

The progress, or the lack of it, of a patient, helps in identifying whether certain medical treatments or effective or not. Such data can be then put to use by medical professionals to foretell the results of treatments in patients.

Machine learning aids healthcare professionals to devise roadmaps for treatments of patients afflicted with severe diseases too as they monitor their responses even when there are slightest changes in drug dosages, improving their experiences in achieving better health outcomes.

As for AI, it can help pharmaceutical companies in recording trends of physicians. It may well include the frequency of a certain treatment’s efficacy in treating patients, assessing medical procedures and detecting the basic needs of patients based on their respective environments. These companies may also use this data to conduct market research extensively on a commercial basis.

Data helps experts in gathering critical patient evidence in real-time so that medical professionals can take action immediately to avert occurrences of serious consequences. Patients have been monitored based on the risks they would have faced with the aid of equipment based on AI (including sensors, ECGs and other useful devices) to capture data and detect possible risks. 

With massive data being accessible to both healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical players across fields of medicine, machine learning can be used to process it to identify the right physicians for patients suffering from different ailments in quick time. When this is achieved, the physicians can share those experiences in writing or through their speeches with their counterparts across the globe, allowing pharma companies to identify the right audiences for specific conditions. 

As telemedicine is evolving at a disproportionate pace in the healthcare field, pharmaceutical companies are collaborating more with tech companies to develop online processes to monitor patients’ conditions, gather various treatment processes, improve regulations and also alert patients on time about their medical appointments. It also helps medical professionals to virtually monitor if their patients are following their advice diligently or not. 

In addition to gathering and storing data, AI and ML will enable sharing of knowledge among healthcare professionals, improving the ability of the pharmaceutical industry to acquire more health-related information. This will, in turn, help them cut costs where required and improve their R&D efforts on discovering new drugs, improving both their top and bottom lines eventually.      

Written for eccenca - a parent company of Aarth Software, where I worked  

Why are smart homes the future & what does it mean to you?

 In today’s world, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology has taken over our everyday lives at home. It enables gadgets to function smartly because they are embedded with sensors, making them capable of connecting and exchanging data with other household devices with a single primary contact - a smartphone, PC/laptop, or tablet. This single device lets you manage lights, fans, ACs, TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and other home appliances.   

Millennials and first-time home buyers are capitalizing on this technology which is catering to their needs and, in turn, propelling them toward a sustainable planet. These smart homes provide energy efficiency savings because the devices they use have Zigbee and Z-wave, popular wireless network protocols that allow them to be switched off when they are not being used. They begin operating again when you give them commands, giving you the benefit of reducing your home electricity bills significantly. In short, you can run all home appliances on your fingers. 

According to researchandmarkets.com, an online global market research firm, the Indian smart homes market will account for the spending of more than US$ 9 billion by 2025. 

With three out of four millennials evincing interest in buying a home in the next three years, they are the key drivers of India’s housing market. Moreover, the spread of Covid-19 has only accelerated the adoption of smart homes as they enable work from home, studying from home, shopping from home, etc.  

Millennials are at the forefront, pushing forward newer concepts, innovation-driven technology, and trends to come to fruition while keeping a progressing viewpoint when it comes to sustainable practices. Choosing smart homes comes with several benefits to the world which is developing rapidly.  

With climate change becoming an alarming issue, the onus is now on the citizens of the planet Earth to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and smart homes do that by decreasing carbon footprints considerably.   

Needless to say, about 33% of all the world’s carbon emissions are due to the energy consumption of household appliances, as stated in a study conducted by Finnish researchers.

The upshot of that study was that home automation could save around 13% of these GHG emissions and, in the bargain, diminish the effects of global warming. 

 Given that the Indian market segment is predicted to grow by 5% in 2022, a smart home will be both attractive as an asset and for settling down. When the real estate market continues to expand, you, as an owner of a smart home, are assured of a decent profit if you decide to sell it.

What is global warming and why should we be worried

 What is global warming and why should we be worried  

According to the United States Geological Society (USGS), “Global warming” “refers to the rise in global temperatures due mainly to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” 

 

On the other hand, greenhouse gas (GHG) is a gas that enables heat to be trapped by hindering the movement of longwave radiation out of the atmosphere of Earth. What it does is cause the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to increase staggeringly. Because of this, global warming is happening. 

 

Owing to all of this, the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has stated that the world has seen its warmest five years between 2015 and 2021 since 1880! If that happens, the temperatures on most of the Earth’s surface will reach a tipping point – a point of no return for the existence of humans on the planet.  

 

What role do humans play in all of this? To a large extent, human activities cause the concentration of GHGs to swell. In other words, humans are directly responsible for global warming as we burn fossil fuels (coal and oil) at a tremendous rate. Additionally, pollution caused by industries and power-guzzling vehicles is also another major contributor to GHGs, thus, in turn, global warming.  

 

GHG causes temperatures on our planet to be hotter than ever, storms to be more devastating than the ones that wreaked this planet since recorded history, and ceaselessly increasing droughts in the less fortunate parts of Earth.

Skinny-shaming

 Is it unfair to say that skinny-shaming cannot be deeply hurting and demoralizing, causing the self-esteem of its victims to be abased? Who says this form of discrimination can’t affect its targets as much as fat-shaming does? Since documentation for this group of people is very sparse, you cannot measure the magnitude of their predicament. But with people, in today's world, becoming more alive to other discriminatory practices, such as against individuals for their sexual orientation or for just being simply ‘different,’ other forms of ‘subtle’ social exclusion could also be taken note of in the future.