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Indians are way behind the <keyword id="6355055" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="USA">USA</keyword>, when it comes to severance package doled out to the CXOs. Compared to 3-5% Indians getting the severance pay as a safeguard clause in their contracts, it’s almost 60-70% in the USA. The scenario came to light when the exit of <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> CFO <keyword id="347003" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Bansal">Rajiv Bansal</keyword> happened. It has been reported that the departing Infosys CFO was gifted the “so-called golden parachutes”. 
 "Most executives in India do not have any severance clauses in their contracts,” <keyword id="1966307" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anandorup-Ghose">Anandorup Ghose</keyword>, partner, talent and rewards, <keyword id="2247343" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aon-Hewitt-Consulting">Aon Hewitt Consulting</keyword> told The <keyword id="6474066" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-times">Economic Times</keyword>. 
 
Except from the star CEOs, majority of who are in a position to dictate terms, most CXOs don’t have the luxury of getting severance packages, which act as an insurance. These are mostly equivalent to CXO’s fixed salary for anywhere between six months and two years. In some cases, according to The Economic Times, these include vested stock options. The global norm is one to three years of fixed salary and includes safeguards for the organisation. 
 “A mid-sized Indian company recently hired a senior executive at a US multinational as its CEO after agreeing to his demand for a severance package of nearly $1 million,” <keyword id="1052400" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Das-Mahapatra">Arun Das Mahapatra</keyword>, partner in charge of <keyword id="808338" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Heidrick-Struggles">Heidrick &amp; Struggles</keyword> in India told the ET. 
 In another ongoing mandate for a real estate firm, <keyword id="272875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahapatra">Mahapatra</keyword> told the financial daiy, the candidate is likely to insist on a severance clause because of the risks associated with the job. As perceived risk rise, so does the severance package. Severance for top employees in the technology and ecommerce/startups sectors have started to match global standards, said <keyword id="2091714" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanchit-Vir-Gogia">Sanchit Vir Gogia</keyword>, CEO of Greyhound Research. 
 
(Image credit: Linkedin)

Indian CEOs are far behind the
US ones in Severance Pay Packages

<ul><li>India’s home-grown social network ShareChat is looking for its next round of investment, and Google may reportedly shell out $150 million to $200 million. </li><li>Even <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> has expressed its interest in ShareChat while chasing <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>’s operations in the US. </li><li>Here’s why analysts think it makes sense that Google is looking to ShareChat in order to fill the gaps in its portfolio. </li></ul>Global tech giants are on the hunt for the next big social network. Facebook has rolled out Instagram Reels and Microsoft is looking to get its hands on the real deal by acquiring TikTok’s US business. Meanwhile, in India, Google is trying to finally get a piece of pie by investing in the country’s home-grown social networking platform, ShareChat. Neither Google nor ShareChat have commented on the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/google-in-talks-with-sharechat-as-latter-scouts-for-150-200-million/articleshow/77582440.cms">Economic Times</a> article, which claims that the companies are in the preliminary stages of negotiating an investment between $150 to $200 million. Nonetheless, analysts believe that Google’s interest in the local-language network will fill in the missing pieces it has in its portfolio. “It’s very well possible that ShareChat will eventually get rebranded as something else for global markets,” founder and CEO of Greyhound Research, Sanchit Vir Gogia told Business Insider. What is ShareChat? ShareChat is a social networking platform, which, within itself, has a TikTok alternative — called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/sharechats-tiktok-rival-moj-crosses-5mn-downloads-on-google-play/articleshow/76811384.cms">Moj</a> — that has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-rides-on-the-ban-on-apps-from-china-with-15-million-downloads-in-36-hours-but-is-itself-backed-by-chinese-investors/articleshow/76728139.cms">gained traction</a> since the ban on Chinese apps was announced in India. “This will enable Google to have a shot at its social networking ambitions but as of now, we see it as a strategic investment if it happens,” said counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77062280" title="Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Sharechat see substantial increase in time-spent after the ban on Chinese apps: Kantar" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The investment would not just give Google an opportunity to make headway in the social networking game, but also allow it to leverage ShareChat’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/users-created-over-100-mn-pieces-of-hindi-content-in-2019-sharechat/articleshow/72965102.cms">vernacular content</a>. It already lost out to Facebook in the west. ShareChat could provide the tech company its second coming. The Indian social network is currently the fastest growing local language social media platform in India with support for 14 Indian languages and more than 60 million active users. It’s one of the reasons that even Microsoft is <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/microsoft-in-prelim-talks-with-sharechat-indian-app-for-100-million-dollars-investment/story/412337.html">reportedly</a> looking to buy it even though it already has a monopoly in the professional networking space with LinkedIn. For ShareChat, an investment from Google would mean an investment by the ‘king of search engine optimisation’ (SEO), he explained. Brands pump in money where searchability is best — the more searchable a platform’s content is, the more likely it is to go viral. TikTok set the tone for social networks to travel from East to West The success of TikTok is only one case study on how the next big global social network won’t start out in the US or Europe but in Asia. But an app that’s popular in India will have a lot of users while being unable to general a lot of money. Indian users are diverse but they don’t like to spend online. “India is not a very high revenue market right now but it is a great testbed market from features, functionality and languages perspective,” said Gogia. Even with TikTok, one-third of its users were from India but the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tiktok-made-more-money-than-any-other-app-in-july-despite-losing-its-largest-overseas-market/articleshow/77369131.cms">majority of its revenue was still from China.</a> Test local, make money global Many companies like Microsoft and Google already test drive their products in India and other countries before taking them to the US. According to Gogia, Google’s interest in ShareChat could very well be an attempt to drive innovation from a low-risk country and take it across broader global networks. If you look at it from Google’s point of view, it will be able to use the abundance of data to train its algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) models in a very big way. “These models can then be taken into other countries from a monetisation perspective,” explained Gogia. Investing in ShareChat fits in perfectly with Google wanting a piece of the pie in India’s rising digital adoption. “This will give them rich insights on how the next half a billion first time internet users will embrace the internet and help in tweaking their services accordingly and not to forget the indirect benefits to their core advertisement segment,” said Pathak. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/the-heat-is-on-mark-zuckerberg-in-india-as-facebook-and-whatsapp-incur-the-ire-of-modis-rivals/articleshow/77575358.cms">The heat is on Mark Zuckerberg in India as Facebook and WhatsApp incur the ire of Modi's rivals</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/not-only-gmail-google-drive-meet-slides-docs-sites-groups-chat-keep-voice-services-also-facing-issue-as-per-google/articleshow/77652103.cms">Google Drive, Docs, Meet and others are working again after being out of service for over six hours</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/microsoft-is-ending-support-for-the-legacy-internet-explorer-but-its-only-going-to-affect-less-than-5-of-online-users/articleshow/77607727.cms">Microsoft is ending support for the legacy Internet Explorer — but it's only going to affect less than 5% of online users</a>

Google eyes India’s ShareChat as Microsoft goes after TikTok in the US — here’s why it makes sense

BANGALORE: TCS has become the world's third largest employer of people in the technology sector, with over 3 lakh employees. And given the pace at which it is growing, it could become the second largest employer this year, crossing Hewlett-Packard, and would be fast closing in on leader IBM. 
 
In India, it's one of the biggest creators of jobs in recent years, possibly even the biggest. Besides the Indian army, government departments like the Indian Railways and India Post, and PSU companies like Coal India, there's perhaps no other company that has more employees. And unlike the government departments, which are mostly reducing their staff strength, TCS numbers are rising each year by between 25,000 and 35,000. 
 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/TCS-joins-top-10-global-IT-services-companies-club/articleshow/34067479.cms">TCS joins top 10 global IT services companies club</a> 
 In the last fiscal year, the $13.4-billion <keyword id="146310" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Tata-Group-company">Tata Group company</keyword> hired 61,200 people, with the net addition being 24,268, discounting those who left the company. The net addition in each of the past several years has been along similar lines or higher. 
 
 
 
 
 
On the contrary, for some of the leading global tech companies, numbers are dropping given the transformations they are going through to deal with shifts in technology towards areas like cloud computing and mobility. HP had 349,600 employees in 2011, but that number is now down to 317,500. IBM, which has about 4.3 lakh employees, is also in the midst of layoffs. 
 
 
 
 
TCS has said it will hire 55,000 people this year. If the net addition is half of that, it will be well ahead of HP's number by the end of this fiscal. Among Indian IT companies, Infosys is almost 50% of TCS with 1.6 lakh employees. 
 Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research, says TCS is ahead of many of its Indian peers in identifying new areas of growth, making <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> and all the right noises. "It is betting big on the Digital Five Forces—mobility, big data, cloud, social media and robotics," he said. 
 
Analysts also find it remarkable that it has grown its people strength so quickly, and yet created an organizational structure nimble enough to handle these numbers. Equally, it has kept its people costs under such control that it is seen as a major factor in its extremely high operating margins (over 28%), perhaps the highest among large companies in the global IT services industry. 
 
Pradeep Mukherji, president and managing partner in global management consulting firm Avasant, said TCS is managing the huge workforce by breaking it into smaller business units that each function virtually as a smaller company. "The depth and breadth of middle management and work delegation, managing a good onshore and offshore mix are some of the key drivers in managing the employee pyramid effectively," he said. 
 
TCS' employee cost has risen from Rs 90 billion in 2007 to Rs 319.2 billion in 2013, but the cost per employee has barely risen in these past seven years. The cost per headcount has grown from Rs 11.5 lakh in 2007, to Rs 12.4 lakh) in 2013, an annual increase of a mere 1.2%, said a report by US-based IT advisory firm HfS Research. "A conservative estimate of 8% annual wage hike in India, 2% hike in developed countries and 4% hike in developing countries will lead to about 7.5% weighted average annual wage hike for TCS' mix of employees," said HfS analyst Pareekh Jain. In other words, TCS has been able to offset its salary hikes through other measures. 
 
One of the biggest of these looks to be a sharp increase in its fresher intake relative to the intake of experienced employees. The percentage of freshers hired (of total hiring) increased to 81% in 2013 from 51% in 2007, finds HfS. 
 
"They have stretched the employee pyramid with an army of junior employees. TCS is aggressively hiring in tier-2 and -3 cities that offsets cost to a large extents TCS has also focused on automation and reusable software tools and frameworks to improve employee productivity," said Sudin Apte, CEO of IT advisory firm Offshore Insights. 
 
Jain believes that hiring more freshers has given TCS the flexibility to deploy them in lower value and transactional activities, thus freeing up experienced resources for higher value work. "Secondly, training freshers for new skills is easier than retraining old resources for new skills," he said. 
 <keyword id="1643718" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Ashish-Chopra">Ashish Chopra</keyword>, IT analyst with brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, noted that TCS had also significantly reduced the proportion of employees at client sites overseas, thus reducing the salary burden. 
 
But some also caution that adding employees in such large numbers may not be the best way to go in the longer run. "Linear employee growth is not a sustainable solution in the long run as newer technologies are nudging IT firms to explore non-linear revenue growth, growth delinked from headcount," said Mukherji. 
 
Gogia echoed that: "With new technologies, especially automation, shaping the world, it's only prudent that TCS utilizes its employees effectively."

TCS May Soon Be World's Second Biggest Tech Employer

The last few months have seen numerous <keyword id="6359049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="phishing">phishing</keyword> attacks and hacking on to corporate networks—making the threat landscape all the more complicated. <keyword id="6355300" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="security">Security</keyword> breach incidents like leaking of confidential emails of <keyword id="406778" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sony-Pictures-Entertainment">Sony pictures entertainment</keyword>, hacking of Forbes website and <keyword id="667357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="iCloud">iCloud</keyword>, which leaked thousands of personal pictures of celebrities over the internet have motivated enterprises to integrate sophisticated network security systems. 
 
As organizations are moving workloads on cloud and with the rapidly growing usage of smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices by professionals at workplace, security threats have become more complex. Enterprises are now investing heavily towards security and are also incorporating data analytics and real-time detection to enhance the traditional antivirus systems to prevent leakage of confidential information. 
 
CIOs need to have a broad outlook towards developing new security strategies and moving away from traditional ways. Also, technology does not combat cyber threats alone. Along with investing large amounts on security products and services, companies need to invest in innovations focussed on training employees about protecting customer and colleague information and have a strong back end system to keep a check. 
 
Security services including consultation, implementation, support and managed security services have been generating substantial revenue in recent years and this trend will continue to develop as enterprises move towards disruptive technologies. 
 
While increased mobility and a surge in the number of network intrusions have emerged as the primary causes for network security deployments in the country, Greyhound Research believes that several other factors are also contributing significantly to the growth of country’s network security market including-: 
 
· Increasing adoption of Big Data Security Analytics by enterprises · <keyword id="6377129" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Government-Of-India">Government of India</keyword>’s focus on renewing security and privacy regulations on both country and industry level 
· An unprecedented growth in the overall IT spending of enterprises 
· Enterprises are gearing up for digitisation by investing in technologies that can enable them to grow their business securely 
As enterprises gradually realise the potential of an advanced security system in place, several trends are picking up in the country’s network security space. The adoption of wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technologies like Wi-Fi hotspots, Wimax, Ethernet cards and 3G wireless technologies have also created the demand for holistic network security architecture. 
 
Some major trends, which will significantly impact the network security market in the year 2015 include: 
 
Real-time threat management -The rising number of hidden threats, tailored to penetrate through traditional protection technologies will force CIOs to adopt technologies to gain swift visibility in their network architecture including devices and make changes in real time. This will include consistent network monitoring and analyzing as well as event detection tools to track suspicious behaviour which could be a potential security threat. 
 
Secured environment for BYOD and enterprise mobility - Enterprises will increasingly focus on upgrading and redesigning their security architectures to meet secured Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) requirements which include authentication, secured Wi-Fi and remote actionable access to device data. 
 
Big Data Security Analytics - Large enterprises will focus on gathering and retaining as much security related data as possible for analysis to help manage and prevent security threats. CIOs and IT heads will reshape their analytics structure according to the specific security requirements of the organisation to pinpoint unknown threat indicators. 
 
The increasing concern for a secured network environment is also creating a demand for security equipments and services in tier two and three regions such as Hyderabad, Kolkata, Vizag, Jaipur and Lucknow. The demand from the cities will escalate further in the coming years as enterprises increasingly become aware of security benefits. 
 
While the country’s network security market is poised for a resilient growth in the year 2015, challenges persist as enterprise networks become complex. SMBs remain highly vulnerable to security threats as they hesitate to invest on IT security infrastructure, with a major portion of their IT spending confined to hardware and software solutions only. 
 
Absence of strict regulatory compliances in terms of IT security solutions and regulations from the government too remain a major hurdle. 
 The country’s laws related to data security remain weak as compared to other developed countries such as the <keyword id="6355055" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="USA">USA</keyword>, UK and Russia. 
To reap maximum benefits of a security solution deployment, enterprises first need to identify the existing complexities both In-House as well externally, which include channel partners and customers. 
 
Setting up of local distributors and system integrators for technical support and sales as well as providing training to local technicians to create security awareness will also propel enterprise network security adoption in India. 
 
About the author: The article has been contributed by Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst and Group CEO, of Greyhound Research.

Mobility,
Network Intrusions Driving Network Security Market in India

In today’s time, while leading with digital is evident, who owns this transformation still remains a bone of contention. This journey needs to be co-owned by those who will be impacted first – the CXOs. Having said that, the starting point of this journey is an understanding of why this matters to CXOs: 
 
For Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Aiming To Reboot Growth, Real-Time <keyword id="771372" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="data-analytics">Data analytics</keyword> can aid decision making. With <keyword id="6411917" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="organisations">organisations</keyword> facing modest growth prospects, CEOs are now required to include technology as a frontrunner. As per findings from a <keyword id="2091715" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Greyhound-Research">Greyhound Research</keyword> study, Emerging Markets CEO Priorities 2016, over 75% CEOs in the Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region are currently using (or exploring) latest Technology Systems. 
 
 
 Greyhound Research believes CEOs must include Systems of Insight in their <keyword id="860946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-transformation">Digital Transformation</keyword> journey. This will not only allow CEOs and other leaders to make decisions based on real-time data, it will help the organisation to reboot for growth. 
 
For Chief Sales Officers (CSOs) Aiming To Drive Revenue In The Face Of Digital, They Must Own Customer Experience Management. Traditional go-to-market channels like retail stores are being replaced by mCommerce and eCommerce. This evolution is enforcing CSOs to assume a hands-on role in end-to-end Customer Relationship Management (CRM). 
 
Greyhound Research believes while deploying a CRM tool is a starting point, CSO teams must form tighter bridges with other stakeholders in the CRM lifecycle including Marketing and Customer Service. 
 
For Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) Aiming To Use An Insights 
Led Approach To Talent Processes, Integrating Data Sources from Existing Apps Is A Must. In their effort to motivate employees, CHROs are willing to explore new technology for improved efficiencies. Per findings of a Greyhound Research study, Emerging Markets CHRO Priorities 2016, more than 73% CHROs in APJ are keen to use newer technology. 
 
Greyhound Research believes before adding new and sophisticated Systems of Insight, CHROs must integrate multiple data sets from applications like HRMS, LMS, PMS among others. 
 
For Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) Aiming To Deliver Exceptional Experiences: 
They Must Highlight Changes In Customers’ Technology Ownership. Organisations are increasingly moving away from siloed Systems of Transaction in favour of contextual Systems of Engagement. A Greyhound Research study, Emerging Markets CMO Priorities 2016, confirms that over 72% CMOs in APJ stated leveraging digital marketing for customer engagement as their top priority. Further, while marketing teams show a solid understanding of customer spend patterns, only 4 of 10 spend time and budget to map the changing technology ownership. 
 
Greyhound Research believes this exploration is imperative to gain grip on the new customer touch points and hence define the spend towards new contextual Systems of Engagement. 
 
For Chief Operating Officers (COOs) Looking To Redefine The Supply Chain Paradigm 
They Must Harness The Power Of Data. In order to remain competitive, organisations are looking at newer technology systems to redefine supply chain. According to a Greyhound Research study, Emerging Markets COO Priorities 2016, 68% COOs in APJ confirm their plans to embark on supply chain transformation. 
 
Greyhound Research believes COOs must implement Systems of Insights for operational efficiencies from sourcing to final delivery. 
 
For Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) Planning To Redesign Fundamentals of Technology Cost Analysis 
They Must Use User Adoption Metrics. Mostly, metrics used by the CFO’s office work on assumptions of the entire user base. Per a Greyhound Research study, Emerging Markets CFO Priorities 2016, 72% CFOs in APJ are keen to reduce technology expenses and explore new Systems like Cloud to better manage cost structures. 
 
Greyhound Research believes the CFO’s office must work on metrics that allow them to track success basis actual number of users and delivered value. This can then be correlated with the overall cost incurred to run this project. 
 
For CIOs Expecting To Make Cloud Work For Their Organisations 
They Must Change Mindset &amp; Skills. Despite skepticism, CIOs are exploring, pilot testing or using Cloud offerings. Per a Greyhound Research study, Global Cloud Adoption Index 2016, 95% respondents in APJ confirmed their plans to use Public Cloud in some manner between 2016-17. 
 
Greyhound Research believes making Digital Transformation projects a success requires CIOs to make a fundamental shift in mindset – from provisioning IT to acting like a services provider for the company. Also, IT teams must re-skill for Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) among other areas. 
 
Why This Matters To CXOs. Winning in this <keyword id="559471" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-era">Digital era</keyword> will not only require agility; it will require traditional organisations to be bold and explore new ways of doing business. Having said that, while investments in Digital Transformation are already underway, Greyhound Research believes it is critical for organisations to build a new strategy prior to starting out and enforce new metrics to measure outcomes. Lastly, the success of this journey hinges upon CXOs adopting a new mind-set and percolating the need for change throughout their teams. 
 
(About the Author: The article is authored by Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Greyhound Research and Chief Futurist, Founder &amp; CEO, Greyhound Knowledge Group)

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