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Due to mounting concerns over public health and safety, InfoComm India 2020 is cancelled. InfoComm India 2020, originally scheduled from 2-4 September 2020 and then moved to 19-21 November 2020, is a premier professional audio-visual (Pro-AV) and integrated experience technology exhibition which has been held annually in India since 2013. In its place, the event organizer will be hosting InfoComm India 2020 GoVIRTUAL, a virtual 3-day exhibition and conference which will take place from 18-20 November 2020. The GoVIRTUAL event will comprise conferences, industry forums, case study presentations, technology spotlight presentations and networking sessions. On the virtual event, Richard Tan, Executive Director of the event’s organizer InfoCommAsia said, “We are mindful of the valuable role that InfoComm India has played over the last eight years, as a nexus for business and knowledge exchange. “This role is especially important now given the speed and scale of digital transformation which is taking place in India, and GoVIRTUAL, which is accessible 24/7, for free, from anywhere in the world will ensure its continuity.” Mr Tan also added, “InfoComm India has developed over the years to be more than just an exhibition. India’s AV community has made it a place where they all congregate, network, collaborate and renew friendships. “It saddens us to have to make this difficult but necessary decision to cancel the in-person show this year for the first time since 2013. With travel restrictions and health concerns, we would not have been able to ensure an enjoyable and productive experience for our exhibitors and visitors, which has always been the case. With health and safety as our first priority, it is incumbent upon us as organizers to make the right decision for all our stakeholders.” The team has earmarked the next InfoComm India event to take place from 15-17 September 2021 at the Bombay Exhibition Center. Organizer Event Manager A Project of InfoComm Asia Pte. Ltd. extends its influence through three marquee shows: InfoComm Southeast Asia, Beijing InfoComm China and InfoComm India. Each show comprises an exhibition that showcases the world’s most cutting-edge and in-demand inventions, and a summit that presents learning opportunities. Bringing together industry players and top-level decision-makers from across all industries, the shows enable industry players to tap into the vast potential presented by the professional audio-visual and integrated experience technology markets of each country and region.  

A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has been keenly watching the widespread disruption caused by COVID 19 across the board in all contours of the industry. The spontaneous and immediate impact was on the organizations, HR & employees. Leadership roles have seen curative changes in HR which are already transforming the role of the HR and will be more prominently seen even in post COVID 19 period. In this series on HR roles, here he attempts to de-cypher and unfold the inevitable. INTRODUCTION COVID-19 has not just changed the world but also changed the DNA of our HR functions & workplace ecosystem in many ways. Our HR leaders must change as well, so as to lead effectively in this COVID induced stressed time. If this pandemic experience has taught us anything, it’s just that leadership matters. For many organizations facing decidedly fragile futures, it may matter more than ever as the country tries to emerge from forced hibernation and rebuild a broken economy. Throughout this tragedy, amidst various contradictory and conflicting view-points; we are witness to certain leadership traits and approaches that have made the difference between life and death. Similarly, our organizations will require distinct leadership traits to restore and revive stressed and flailing supply chains, product lines, and even entire industries. Just as things were looking up for global economies, COVID-19 struck and started disrupting human routine, lifestyle, businesses and the global economy. The overall economic impact of the pandemic will overshadow operations for years to come. Yet, in so much of chaos, one aspect that stood out was the ability of HR leaders across the globe to hold all ends together and fix gaps quickly to ensure continuity of their businesses. Since mid-February 2020, ‘This is Our Moment’ unequivocally and rightfully so because this crisis put the HR function in the radar of importance, visibility, and influence. HR functions have become the most sought-after for their ability to control the damage. They come up with contingency plans, and then control the endless complexity of people management – all this while keeping the spirit of the organization and togetherness intact. Amongst all the drastic changes, the biggest efforts have gone into the immediate shift to ‘work from home.’ All organizations, big or small, relied heavily on their HR and IT teams to ensure the well being of their people while they deliver on business-critical processes from home. Pre Covid Leadership. This has been discussed threadbare in my previous article in the HR series and needs no amplification at the cost of space, hence the same is being dropped. LEADERSHIP DURING COVID 19 When COVID started to spread rapidly, crisis response became the top priority for HR. The CEOs, CIOs, CHROs of the big multi-national organizations agree that their HR team’s crisis response was successful to an extent in addressing three important aspects – communication, remote work, and prompt reporting. Also, efficient reporting capabilities using emails, SMS, internal and external social media and internet have allowed the companies to pivot to meet critical needs as productivity and absenteeism shifted unpredictably. Taking it a step further, secure and remote-friendly tools made employees’ lives easier and their work more productive as they work from home. We can’t be sure of when COVID 19 will be erased by the vaccines which are still in the different stages of trials in labs globally. Hence we are in an unchartered paradigm… space where ‘surviving against odds’ is the new norm. The salient features of the behavioral shift noted in the employee concern fell into four important areas; mainly physical health and well being, remote work, issues related to jobs and work continuity, an urgent need for mental health, resilience, family support, and dealing with uncertainty. Hence, HR organizations must expand the support they provide to employees. (a) Mental Health will come to the fore – due to increasing appreciation of its importance. (b) Employees will get more comfortable with technology – they will expand their comfort, capability and confidence with all-things tech. (c) Relationship with teammates will improve – due to virtual conversations that include repartee about family life, culinary skills, home workouts, the fun antics of kids and more. (d) Happiness and life – importance of family while WFH. (e) Diversity will be seen in new light-as employees bring their best to work – through inclusive design, new policies and practices, and new approaches to teamwork that support different ways of working. (f) Work will become more flexible – teams are figuring out how to collaborate at a distance and leaders are improving their ability to manage based on outcomes and objectives rather than presence. (g) Workspace will get neater – fumigation, social distancing, disinfecting, pest control, hand sanitizers, clean floors etc., will become more significant. (h) Your company’s approach will change as the ability to respond promptly will have a positive effect on the workforce of tomorrow. (i) Innovation will flourish as today’s struggles and pain are forcing new ways of thinking, better approaches, and fresh perspectives on problems. (j) Career opportunities – people will need people for their brand. POST COVID MANDATE In a short time frame of six to eight months, it may be difficult to predict with absolute clarity as to how the future will shape up but certain tenets of work stand out which may well turn out to be the pillars of strength for the leaders in the HR. I have shortlisted few of them which are likely to influence working of the HR in most pronounced way: Candor. My definition of candor is honesty without ambiguity. While honesty has always been an important leadership trait, this moment…

Just two months after the accomplishment of the private security industry (PSI) whereby private security services (PSS) were declared an ‘essential service’ during COVID-19 regime, the industry has set forth for a next pursuit. Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI), has recently written a letter to Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India whereby he sought that the private security services in India should be declared a ‘tax-free service.’ He said that it is the basic and fundamental duty of the Government to ensure every citizen of the country safety, security and the sense of being secured; and to make a citizen feel so it must provide adequate internal security infrastructure.     The Chairman argued that security and safety are of paramount significance. The Government creates police and paramilitary forces to respond to the security and safety situations of the citizen; however, it does not send invoices to people for availing such services. Owing to the fact that there is a very low police-public ratio in India, there are huge gray areas where citizens are forced to protect themselves and their assets by retaining the paid services of private security agencies. This need of paid security services is experienced as they don’t feel secure due to various prevailing factors. That sense of insecurity created a fear psychosis among the citizens that forces them to buy private security at a cost. These circumstances bring us to a conclusion that the government internal security infrastructure is not adequate enough to grant ‘right to security’ to every citizen. This gap needs to be addressed post haste. Such an inadequacy of government services must be compensated by the State by paying for the additional security services needed by its citizens. Kunwar Vikram Singh said that this huge expense may not be possible for an already burdened government, but it should not be levying a Service Tax to those who should have otherwise been protected by the government itself. Private security agencies, which are, to a large extent, filling the void in the internal security environment due to the lack of government forces are actually saving the government exchequer huge money which would otherwise have been used in raising more police and paramilitary forces. People pay for the security services and take away financial burden off the government for raising more battalions of Police and Paramilitary forces. Considering this huge savings, the Government must not charge Services Tax for the services which they are duty bound to provide. Kunwar Vikram Singh sought that in order to create goodwill among its citizens post Covid, the private security services should be declared ‘tax free’ so that the consumers of the private security services will be hugely benefitted and such services will become more affordable. Majority of these services are now being availed by lakhs of resident welfare associations (RWAs) and small, medium enterprises (SMEs). He concluded that a delegation of CAPSI shall soon meet the Prime Minister to discuss the merits of this approach.  

The Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, popularly known as GFSU, as claimed, is the world’s first and only university dedicated to Forensic Sciences and allied subjects. Nestled in the lush green environs of an equally serene capital city of Gandhinagar, the university quietly continues to gallop in academic excellence. Envisioned by the P.M. and the then C.M. of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, to be an institution of higher learning of international standard for producing experts in different fields of Forensic Science, this unique university has not looked back since its inception on 10th February, 2009. Well before ‘Skill India’ became a buzz word, its founder Director General and the country’s senior-most Forensic Scientist, Dr. J.M. Vyas had started employing all his experience of five long decades to launch post graduate courses in all possible branches of Forensic Science. Today, in just about a decade, GFSU boasts 50 specialised P.G. programmes, ranging from legacy branches like Fingerprint Science, Document Examination, Food Analysis and Ballistics, to the more advanced forensic fields like DNA analysis, Toxicology, Odontology and Forensic Psychology, further on to the latest streams such as different areas of Cyber Forensics, Forensic Nanotechnology, Forensic Structural Engineering and Environmental Science, to name a few.   Reminiscing about initial days, Dr. Vyas said that as there was no forensic science university in the world, we had no template to fall back upon and had to innovate and plan each and every training methodology and facility in-house. Despite this, Dr. Vyas simultaneously embarked on three major verticals – Institute of Forensic Science, Institute of Research & Development, and Institute of Behavioural Science to cover all the branches as also to provide a special impetus to the R&D. Besides this, to keep pace with the advancements in academics and technology, Dr. Vyas planned academic collaboration across the world in a big way which stands today with more than hundred multi-disciplined institutions. He also began offering expert consultancy in setting up or upgrading various laboratories in the country as well as abroad. Once the University settled down, Dr. Vyas came out with a new concept of Preventive Forensics! He explained that while Forensic Science is used the world over for investigating a crime, it should also be utilized in preventing a crime. This gave rise to courses in Homeland Security, Cyber Security, Hospital management and Forensic Accounting. These Management courses, coupled with enormous training programmes being run by GFSU for participants from different departments of the Government as well as number of foreign countries, led Dr. Vyas to plan the next vertical, Institute of Management & Training. Dr. S.O. Junare, Director of this institute informed that GFSU conducts a number of special training programmes, including for 68 friendly foreign countries. As a result, Dr. Junare proudly stated that in just ten years, GFSU has trained about 10,000 officers including 2200 foreign officers from varied departments such as Police, Armed Forces, Bureaucrats from Central Ministries, Judiciary, Banking, Vigilance, Customs, Immigration etc. One of the unique and successful courses at GFSU is its 2-year full time MBA Programme in Homeland Security. It is a very comprehensive course where the students are trained in every facet of internal security to function at higher appointments at global, national as well as organisational level. Veteran Air Commodore K.R. Thaakar, now a Senior Faculty Member for Homeland Security, informed that the course has recently been upgraded to equip the participants with requisite skills to respond to major security threats and disasters by way of preparing strategy, refining plans, implementing in a fool-proof way, exploiting technology, carrying out investigations, undertaking audits etc. In particular, the course is designed to gain expertise in the fields of International Security Perspective, Internal Security Threats, Border Security Threats, CBRN Warfare, Cyber Security, Disaster Preparedness & Response, Financial Frauds, Intelligence Sharing, Threat Assessment, Vulnerability Analysis, Critical Infrastructure Protection, Civil & Criminal Laws and Application of Forensic Science, to name a few. This, coupled with the extensive coverage of Management Fundamentals & Techniques, Financial Accounting and Psychology, prepare the students with necessary managerial skills to lead their security departments. Air Commodore Thaakar said that besides equipping with wide ranging knowledge, the students are also provided with practical exposure through a week-long visit to Adani Port & SEZ at Mundra (Gujarat) and a recently introduced 2-week training at the prestigious North-Eastern Police Academy (NEPA) at Shillong. The entire 4th semester is dedicated to internship at one of the major institutions/ industry for hands-on experience in various facets of security, and preparing a dissertation which provides valuable and analytical insight to the students. In the past, besides young students, the course has also been attended by number of armed forces officers and police officers from India as well as abroad, and they found it very useful. Dr. S.O. Junare, who is the senior-most Director, unhesitatingly claimed that no one passes out disappointedly from GFSU as it has achieved enviable standard of academic excellence, established impressive infrastructure and has expert faculty.   Dr. J.M. Vyas, despite serving for 47 years as a Forensic Scientist, heading Gujarat’s Forensic Science Directorate for past 27 years and presiding as the Director General, akin to the Vice Chancellor, of GFSU for 11 years, is not contented as yet. Continuing its long strides, GFSU has launched nine new P.G. programmes in the upcoming academic session of 2020-21. This includes courses in novel fields like Multimedia Forensics, Malware Analysis & Reverse Engineering, Forensics and Anti-Corruption, and Cyber-Psychology. As the new courses start, the entire process of inviting expert faculty to join the family, creating infrastructure, entering into academic collaboration, starting research activity and most importantly, ensuring that the highest academic standard is maintained, is all put into motion, each and every time. Dr. Vyas, with his outstanding vision, dynamism and expertise, continues to raise the bar at the GFSU.  

As businesses in many countries around the world reopen and resume operations, people are getting back to work and back to their daily routines. And with today’s technologies being applied in practical ways that help in the real world, keeping people safe, healthy, and protected is becoming easier than ever. Using a non-contact temperature-screening solution is one current measure being used to quickly spot individuals with elevated skin temperature (EST). This detection method is designed to help initial screening of EST, and combines with the use of medical equipment to further verify symptoms. This method also reduces manual testing time and safety risks to those involved in the detection process. Temperature screening cameras have now been widely adopted by organizations and business across the globe. Some of the most typical use-cases are found in airports, hospitals, offices, and manufacturing and logistics facilities, which have seen tremendous benefits using thermal technology. Prama Hikvision helped customers build the first line of defence Prama Hikvision’s temperature screening solution, made up of various products and a wide range of applications, is designed for the detection of skin-surface temperatures to achieve rapid and safe initial screening in public areas. Its flexibility means it can be used in a multitude of scenarios.   These thermographic cameras are used by customers from multiple industries around the world such as at ports of entry and high-traffic locations, including Charles De Gaulle airport in France, Brasilia Airport in Brazil, Ikazia Hospital in the Netherlands, Cambridge hospital in Canada, Chaudhary Group Industrial Park in Nepal, Toyota Industrial Park in Canada, Vancouver liquor store in Canada, and many more. Temperature screening will remain important for reopening and resuming businesses of all types. In some countries health authorities and regulators are taking a very cautious approach to deployment of temperature screening cameras, and it is advisable referring to the current local guidance before any deployment of this solution. In case of the U.S., the latest specific guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), temperature checks are encouraged at entrances for employees returning to work. It’s all part of the increasingly common measures employers are now putting in place to guard against a second wave of the pandemic. More than that, Prama Hikvision’s temperature screening cameras integrate into security and access control systems in convenient ways that really work, with functionalities that include social distancing measures, crowd and traffic controls, mask detection, access control and employee attendance tracking, temperature screening, and more.  

A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has been keenly watching the wide spread disruption caused by COVID 19 across the board in all contours of the industry. The spontaneous and immediate impact was on the human resource (HR) & employees. Here he attempts to decode the same and peep into transformation thereof. Further, he goes an extra mile to suggest steps which HR leaders can take to navigate through the crisis. The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on health, economies and markets is an unfolding story that is unprecedented, complex and fluid in its ever-changing dimensions. One of the biggest visible impacts of the virus has been on the organizations, people and the nature of workplaces. As the coronavirus spread invisibly across the globe, nation after nation declared lockdowns and organizations scrambled to comply with lockdown restrictions while striving to keep the operations going. The current humanitarian and economic crisis forced people and corporates to consciously step up and reset priorities for steering growth and stability while weathering the storm. Work-from-Home (WFH) became the immediate solution to business continuity. As the guidelines from MHA kept pouring in, the task of HR became more compelling & complex. However, post initial shock effect, gradually the HR functions stepped up to transform and re-set its priorities. How do leaders manage radical changes by redefining guidelines pertaining to people, process, technology and governance? CHALLENGES The spiralling effect of lockdown forced organizations to downsize the businesses, go in for cost cutting, minimise office expenditure, enforce salary cuts, manpower pruning, search for other streams of revenue, uninterrupted employee and customer engagement etc. These measures, coupled with restrictions imposed by MHA and State Govts gave birth to numerous challenges for the HR on ground in form of agility, creativity and flexibility in functions: Leadership deficit: Usually communication had been led by the Top Team but need of the hour urged downstream delegation. Voice of the regional leaders across the company assumed greater importance. Few days of policy paralysis at the top exposed vulnerability and leadership deficit. Crisis response: Crisis response fell into three categories – Communication, Remote Working and Reporting. Communication assumed vital dimension – coordinating responses across teams, business and geographies. Transforming lateral functioning into cross functioning between managers and teams became top priority. Command and control business continuity model needed to be aligned and to be in sync with geographies. Response to rapidly evolving situations: Need to re-organize company goals and their alignment among executives and managers. Safety protocols & mental health: Despite flow of information on social media, communication on safety protocols, hygiene practices, emergency numbers, list of hospitals, guidelines for quarantining and isolating had to be disseminated through company gateways. Need for mental health, resilience, family support, and dealing with uncertainty assumed bigger dimensions. Agility of sales team: Sales teams are still engaged in classical way of marketing despite client being in crisis mode, not quick to understand shifting concerns of the client. It is difficult to manage the mind-set of the marketing team. Mode of thinking of sales people needed a paradigm shift since not engaged with digital projects and not digging into client’s pain points. Poor communications with clients to exploit the new pipeline opportunities was also a gross deficit. Human centric approach to lay-offs: There’s really no avoiding the fact that layoffs are tough, both for the individuals who suddenly find themselves without a job and the organization they leave behind. Organizations tended to experience impaired reputation, reduced longterm performance and lower employee engagement on this context. In this pandemic-induced economic crisis, organizations faced the negative consequences of layoffs as they had to make difficult decisions to preserve the overall health of their businesses. Impact on HR practices & Re-setting the Priorities Work from home (WFH): Re-defining the policies to ensure that employees could work seamlessly and securely. WFH may impact decision-making structures because of the constraints of video meeting platforms. Smaller teams may be able to collaborate better and take decisions faster. Work places: As organizations get more comfortable with employees working remotely, the requirement for office space and fixed workstations may reduce drastically. However, policies had to be redefined for workplaces for functioning with minimal staff with required safety protocols. Infrastructure: Supporting the employees with infrastructure – like provisioning of laptops, data cards to ensure business continuity to facilitate WFH. The procurement of masks, hand washes, and sanitizers was critical even though supplies fell low in the market. Human connect: Amid a rapidly unfolding health crisis, employee safety became prime concern. Safety and social distancing compliance, and regular disinfection/ sanitization of premises have become an essential component of keeping employees safe. Motivation: Keeping employees engaged, motivated, safe and productive is vital to keep up the productivity graph. Motivation became a critical key responsibility areas (KRA). HR practices: Recruitment, on-boarding, and learning and development will remain impacted. Recruitment is likely to focus on tech-savvy talents who can perform better in a predominantly digital workplace. Processes for on-boarding new hires will have to change to become fully digital. Training and skilling will reconfigure for an online-only mode. Integrity and commitment: Standard attendance and leave policies will no longer work. Organizations will have to place a higher degree of trust in the integrity and commitment of employees working remotely. Technology adoption: Having larger remote workforces will push organizations to ramp up technology adoption and digitalization, enable dispersed operations, and collaborative functioning. EMPLOYEE ISSUES Employees who were displaced during the crisis found that the negative impact of being retrenched touched all aspects of their health, from their physical and mental well being, to their financial and social security. Major concerns of employees centered about their…

Health organizations around the world have created the common awareness that maintaining a safe distance between people is one of the best practices, we have to avoid being exposed to COVID-19 and in slowing its spread. As various countries and regions push to reopen businesses and relax stay-at-home orders, social distancing remains an ongoing requirement. More than that, crowd density information is also considered a significant reference in managing the ‘social distance’ of workplaces, businesses and public spaces. Business owners are working hard to keep employees, customers and visitors protected. Dealing effectively with ‘density’ – a new imperative for management and operations – complicates staffing and interpersonal interaction. Limiting the number of people to ensure safety In the current situation, public and private managers and authorities have to do more than ever before to keep people safe, and in many cases efficient calculation of customer traffic will be essential. Prama Hikvision’s flow control solution uses people counting cameras and digital signage, which provides a dynamic onscreen display to show users how many people are entering and leaving a building or an area, and sends real-time alerts in case pre-defined capacity thresholds are exceeded. These people counting camera utilize highly accurate 3D binocular stereo vision and deep learning algorithms, making complex counts easy, even in multi-door sites.     More important, the flow control solution can be easily and rapidly deployed. It is designed to be simple to use and highly accurate, with options to suit all potential application scenarios. In locations with a single entrance, one people counting camera can be installed at the entrance and connected to the digital signage. For multi-entry scenarios, people counting cameras can be installed at each entrance and exit, equipped with I-Series NVRs or HikCentral to calculate numbers of people entering or leaving, so as to accurately provide real-time number data. Multiple entries and exits For example, a supermarket can install a clear and easy-to-understand, dynamic data number display at each entrance to provide real-time updates for people waiting to enter. An alert is generated when the pre-configured maximum is reached, and an audio alarm can be triggered if anyone attempts to enter before the numbers go below that threshold. At present, with expenses more critical than ever, users can use the flow control solution to automatically monitor the situation, empowering businesses and possible reducing the required number of security guards and other resources. Maintaining a safe social distance in public In areas where crowds are unavoidable such as cash registers in supermarkets and the ticket kiosks at public transportation hubs, managing distances between people queuing (standing in line) is also critical. Authorities in various locations have established specific guidelines and legislation in this area, balancing the needs and risks for citizens. Prama Hikvision dual lens cameras (DS-2CD6825G0/ C-I(V)(S)) help retail stores and other businesses measure social distancing, and its advanced 3D binocular stereo vision and deep learning algorithm can be configured to trigger alarms according to local regulations and requirements. Users can set the minimum contact distance threshold needed; when the distance becomes less than this preset threshold, an instant alarm and popup will appear with audio and video linkage. And there’s more Alongside the density control solution, Prama Hikvision also offers a mask detection solution. This technology ensures that anyone entering a premise is wearing a face mask when they are required to do so. Those without a mask will not be granted entry. The mask detection solution can be delivered in a variety of formats depending on user needs – added to a specialty camera or a Prama Hikvision DeepinMind NVR for users with existing camera systems, integrated into Prama Hikvision’s temperature screening thermal solution, or as part of a MinMoe door access unit with built-in face detection technology. Entry can be denied if a mask is not worn and/ or an out-of-range skin-surface temperature is detected. As businesses begin to emerge from lockdown, they need to find ways to reduce risks of furthering the spread of the virus. This affects whole populations and all their normal activities – from getting coffee on the way to work and boarding public transportation, to shopping and eating out. But there are some technologies that they can turn to – innovations that will facilitate a ‘new normal’ and keep people safe. And Prama Hikvision will be there, every step of the way.    

The booms and busts of economies and markets have consolidated businesses over decades. The word consolidation takes its origin from ‘Consolidatus,’ a Latin word which means ‘to combine into one body.’ Many of today’s mega companies have resulted from high profile business unions termed as Consolidation, Merger, Unification, Alliance, Amalgamation, Coalition or Collaboration etc. Consolidation within a business group refers to merging of several business verticals or different companies into a single larger organisation to improve operational efficiency by reducing redundant personnel and processes. Consolidation within a business sector is also the merger of several independently managed business entities which typically concentrates market share in the hands of a few large companies. PSI – A Stressed Sector Stress conditions of Private Security Industry (PSI) were initiated by the ill-advised GST mode of applicability on the body corporate Private Security Agencies (PSAs) resulting in acute shrinkage of cash flows disabling budgets for expansion and growth. Any business which comes to standstill commences to deliver diminishing or negligible returns, and gradually goes sick and dies because of inflating costs and infrastructure maintenance. Additionally, COVID 19 shut-downs, downscaling, layoffs and closures have devastated many small and medium PSAs who were comfortably operating in niche sectors such as infrastructure, hospitality, malls, retail, entertainment, transport and more. Private Security Industry (PSI) is a human resource intensive service sector and primarily existed on sourcing of migratory labour which has seen major disruption countrywide. The dust is yet to settle to allow the true picture to emerge. Favoured employers who practiced employee retention policies may feel the ‘pinch’ but it is the ‘marginal industry’ comprising SMEs with high employee turnover rates that have begun to encounter the paucity of manpower availability. Bank funding and public financing are not easily accessed in the absence of sufficient acceptable securities. MECHANICS OF CONSOLIDATION Consolidation can strategically deliver differing values derived for meeting the strategic objectives of the consolidating businesses. It is important to mark that when private security agency owners (PSAOs) consider consolidation, merger, acquisition or sale they must reconcile their bottom lines with the fiscal realities of customers, employees, investors and regulators. Consolidation can also refer to the uniting of smaller PSAOs into larger companies through ‘suited arrangement.’ One of the driving forces behind consolidation is the operating efficiencies that often arise from mergers. The merged entities can merge existing operating structures and reduce any overlap. There usually exists an opportunity to realize significant cost savings as well as related fiscal synergies. Strategically, other objectives could be for gaining targeted or expanded geographical reach, a larger customer base, a broader product line etc. Consolidation alters the balance of power in marketplace and the competitive landscape and associated supply chains. However, the Mantra of the entire exercise is that there is sufficient to be left on the table for the next benefit. This will lead to a win-win situation. SPARKLING EXAMPLES OF THE CONSOLIDATION Consolidation is disrupting traditional competitive development and the economy. In banking sector we are experiencing major deployment of the consolidation strategy in merger of many strained or marginalized banks into a mega entity for the planned outcomes. On April 01, 2020 we witnessed the merger of the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India with the Punjab National Bank creating PNB as the second largest lender after the State Bank of India. Successful restructuring is likely to eliminate redundancies in back office operations like accounting, marketing, warehousing and technology resulting in efficiencies of service delivery and improved profitability. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a successful strategic outcome of the coming together of three associations forming a larger and more effective entity that forcefully competes for Government recognition in influencing policy formation, regulation and development initiatives for its stakeholders. A fine example of consolidated evolution in the global public accounting sector over the years is reproduced here. In 1986, nine large accounting firms dominated the industry. Then, in 1987, Klunveld Main Goerdeler (KMG) merged with Peat Marwick Mitchell to create KPMG Peat Marwick reducing the number of top tier players to the ‘Big Eight.’ Then in 1989, Ernst and Whinney merged with Arthur Young, and Deloitte Haskins and Sells merged with Touche Ross, further consolidating the industry to the ‘big six.’ In 1998, the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand created the ‘big five’ and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen in 2002 left the field to the ‘big four.’ CONCLUSION The birth of these giants is the fruit of timely due diligence by the stakeholders who saw the light at the end of the tunnel to create bigger business models and success stories. Thus consolidations gave birth to these behemoths. One cannot afford to miss the power they wield today. I feel consolidation is the way forward for bulk of the players in the PSI under the current stressed market scenario.   A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementations on ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has been keenly watching the widespread turbulence in the PSI due to COVID 19. The pain is not temporary in nature but permanent in its attributes because of multiple factors. He visualizes that PSI is heading down to consolidation phase. Here he analyses the nuts and bolts of the consolidation and examines the option if consolidation can be one of the growth strategies in the current stressed market scenario.  

The declaration by the Government of India that the private security services are a part of the essential services during lockdown owing to the spread of Corona indeed came as a feather in the caps of the nine million private security personnel of the Indian private security industry (PSI). While majority of the nations’ population were confined to their respective homes, the brave security guards have been performing their duties outside their homes with utmost diligence and sincerity drawing the appreciations of all fellow countrymen. Late Tayappa Balu More, the first Covid Casualty of private security guard, was employed with Checkmate Services Private Limited, Mumbai since 07 June 2012. When he breathed his last on 17 April 2020, he was performing his duties at Aditya Birla Centre, Nyloc House, Worli. He served at many important locations, but bulk of his tenure was at Aditya Birla Centre only. He was very reliable, sincere and dedicated to his profession and as a result often chosen for important assignments. Late Tayappa Balu More is survived by his wife and two children.   Combating all odds like unavailability of public transport, inadequate protective equipment, exposure to the dreaded virus, the security guards have stood tall. These Corona Warriors have come to light when they selflessly acted in the cause of humanity beyond their call of duty. The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI), the flag bearer for the cause of the well-being of the PSI has taken cognizance of the grit and determination being displayed by the security guards under such unprecedented circumstances, and decided to honour those Corona Warriors who have displayed exemplary devotion to duty in their fight against the COVID 19 pandemic. A three member CAPSI Corona Warrior Award (CCWA) Committee headed by C Pal Singh, Former IG Police, Punjab, National Honorary Director General, CAPSI has been constituted to set parameters and select most deserving security guards and officers for the award. The Award comprises a Golden Trophy and a cash award of Rs.1,00,000. The Committee will assemble every month and based on the citations received, will declare the awardees.    Late Dashrath Waghmare Shankar joined G4S March 2005 and his last deployment was at Accurate Industrial Controls Pvt. Ltd., Pune. He stayed in Pune with his wife and 2 children. He performed his last duty on 07 April and died of COVID 19 on 12 April 2020 at the age of 48 years. G4S team provided all necessary supports to him and his family during and post demise. As per G4S policy, his family was paid with ex-gratia amount of Rs.75000 and funeral support of Rs.2500.   For the month of April 2020, the Committee has announced the names of Late Tayappa Babu More of Checkmate Services and Late Dashrath Waghmare Shankar of G4S Security for the Corona Warrior Award posthumously. The award shall be presented to the next of kin (NoK) at a special awards ceremony to be organized at Delhi.  

Digital transformation is redefining the competitive business environment at an unprecedented rate. Anchored on key technologies like cloud, virtualization and modern storage systems, modernization of IT is critical to deliver business continuity for rising customer expectations and de-risking business from evolving cyberattacks plus compliance measures. Our Veeam 2020 Data Protection Trends Report puts the spotlight on the importance of data management and protection across hybrid cloud environment. As the demands of a modern enterprise gets complex, it’s not enough for data to be backed up; data must in fact move to the higher state of intelligence and automatically anticipate demand, securely across physical, virtual and cloud environments. A simple, flexible and reliable Cloud Data Management solution is critical to build a robust foundation for today’s digital business As organizations look to transform their business operations and revolutionize customer service, digital transformation (DX) is at the top of most CXOs’ agendas; in fact, DX spending is expected to approach $7.4 trillion between 2020 and 2023, with a CAGR of 17.5%. However, according to the latest industry data recently released from Veeam® Software, the leading player in backup solutions that deliver Cloud Data Management™, almost half of global organizations are being hindered in their DX journeys due to unreliable, legacy technologies, with 44% citing lack of IT skills or expertise as another barrier to success. Moreover, almost every company admitted to experiencing downtime, with 1 out of every 10 servers having unexpected outages each year – problems that last for hours and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars – and this points to an urgent need to modernize data protection and focus on business continuity to enable DX. The Veeam 2020 Data Protection Trends Report surveyed more than 1,500 global enterprises to understand their approach toward data protection and management today, and how they expect to be prepared for the IT challenges they face, including reacting to demand changes and interruptions in service, as well as more aspirational goals of IT modernization and DX. “Technology is constantly moving forward, continually changing, and transforming how we do business – especially in these current times as we’re all working in new ways. Due to DX, it’s important to always look at the ever-changing IT landscape to see where businesses stand on their solutions, challenges and goals,” said Danny Allan, CTO and SVP of Product Strategy at Veeam, “It’s great to see the global drive to embrace technology to deliver a richer user experience, however the Achilles Heel still seems to be how to protect and manage data across the hybrid cloud. Data protection must move beyond outdated legacy solutions to a higher state of intelligence and be able to anticipate needs and meet evolving demands. Based on our data, unless business leaders recognize that – and act on it – real transformation just won’t happen.” The criticality of data protection & availability Respondents stated that data delivered through IT has become the heart and soul of most organizations, so it should not be a surprise how important ‘data protection’ has become within IT teams, including not just backing up and restoring data, but also extending business capabilities. However, many organizations (40%) still rely on legacy systems to protect their data without fully appreciating the negative impact this can have on their business. The vast majority (95%) of organizations suffer unexpected outages, and on average an outage lasts 117 minutes (almost two hours). Putting this into context, organizations consider 51% of their data as ‘high priority’ versus ‘normal.’ An hour of downtime from a high priority application is estimated to cost $67,651, while this number is $61,642 for a normal application. With such a balance between high priority and normal in percentages and impact costs, it’s clear that ‘all data matters’ and that downtime is intolerable anywhere within today’s environments. “Data protection is more important than ever now to help organizations continue to meet their operational IT demands while also aspiring towards DX and IT modernization. Data is now spread across data centers and clouds through file shares, shared storage, and even SaaS-based platforms. Legacy tools designed to back up on-premises file shares and applications cannot succeed in the hybrid/ multi-cloud world and are costing companies time and resources while also putting their data at risk,” added Allan. DX and the Cloud Enterprises know they must continue to make progress with their IT modernization and DX initiatives in order to meet new industry challenges, and according to this report’s feedback, the most defining aspects of a modern data protection strategy all hinge upon utilization of various cloud-based capabilities – organizations’ ability to do disaster recovery (DR) via a cloud service (54%), the ability to move workloads from on-premises to cloud follows (50%), and the ability to move workloads from one cloud to another (48%). Half of businesses recognize that cloud has a pivotal part to play in today’s data protection strategy; and it will most likely become even more important in the future. For a truly modernized data protection plan, a company needs a comprehensive solution that supports cloud, virtual and physical data management for any application and any data across any cloud. Allan concluded, “By already starting to modernize their infrastructures in 2020, organizations expect to continue their DX journey and increase their cloud use. Legacy solutions were intended to protect data in physical datacenters in the past, but they’re so outdated and complex that they cost more money, time, resources and trouble than realized. Modern protection such as Veeam’s Cloud Data Management solutions, go far beyond backup. Cloud Data Management provides a simple, flexible and reliable solution that saves costs and resources so they can be repurposed for future development. Data protection can no longer be tied to on-premises, physically-dedicated environments and companies must have flexible licensing options to easily move to a hybrid/ multi cloud environment.” Other highlights of the Veeam 2020 Data Protection Trends Report include: The no. 1 challenge that will impact organizations within next 12 months is cyber…