Article: Amazon's Cloud Drifts to China

Dear Sir,

PFB an I article I found on Amazon.

Amazon's Cloud Drifts to China

Amazon is charting a new course as it prepares to expand its Amazon Web Services cloud computing platform to China. The company will start inviting select businesses there to take advantage of the platform as part of a limited preview.

Amazon will extend invitations to both China-based and multinational companies with customers in the region in early 2014. Companies and developers also can apply for access.

Local Assets

Data or objects that customers store in the company's first China Region will remain exclusively in the Beijing Region unless the customers move those assets to other locations. Those who wish to use AWS resources in China will need to set up an AWS China account, which is distinct from other global AWS Accounts.

Operating in China is a tricky prospect for foreign companies -- Facebook and Twitter are both blocked in most of the country, for instance -- but Amazon is taking clear steps to align itself with legal and regulatory requirements in the region.

Meeting Requirements

Amazon is partnering with a number of local providers, such as ChinaNetCenter and SINNET. These firms -- data centers and Internet service providers -- are supplying infrastructure, network capabilities and bandwidth to support the AWS rollout.

"By partnering rather than going by itself, Amazon could provide the implementation of AWS while minimizing its own costs and risks," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, told the E-Commerce Times. "That could be a very viable way for the company to move forward."

Government Memo

AWS China signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Beijing municipal government and the Government of Ningxia Hui Nationality Autonomous Region in Beijing. The document lays out the parties' commitment to establish AWS services for promotion to businesses across the country using resources in Beijing and Western China.

Through AWS, the parties hope to allow more Chinese customers to grow new and existing businesses. The Ningxia government also plans to use AWS to power and improve the efficiency and user experiences of its public services.

Startup Incubator

AWS is additionally working with Shanghai Jiading Industrial Zone on a startup incubator program that offers AWS China resources along with incentives from the industrial zone to startups.

A string of Chinese companies are already using AWS. They include smartphone and mobile Internet service firm Xiaomi, which has more than 14.2 million mobile users in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many of the existing customers will take part in the limited preview of the AWS China Region, which means they'll be able to host their data locally.

AWS is offering local technical support and has an affiliate with Beijing offices to support customers as they use Amazon's cloud platform.

Microsoft Competition

Amazon is not the first major U.S. cloud platform to expand into China. Microsoft has a presence in the region through a partnership with 21Vianet, which announced this week that it also is helping IBM bring its cloud service to China.

With far more Internet users than the U.S. has residents, China is an enticing market for technology firms.

At an annual Middle East trade event, Joe Clabby, president of Clabby Analytics, often asks the audience how many have virtualized their servers.

"Maybe 5 percent of hands go up," Clabby told the E-Commerce Times. "They're buying a lot of Dell or white boxes and then they're deploying them, but they're not virtualizing them, so they're not getting very high utilization out of their investment and computer systems."

'Embrace Open Cloud Standards'

At the most recent event, Clabby suggested to attendees they'd have the opportunity to leapfrog their competition by embracing open cloud standards and jumping into virtualization, which he suggested they're unlikely to do.

"What's ultimately going to happen is that these guys are going to end up buying services from companies that can offer turnkey services and that behind the scenes, virtualize, and get high utilization rates out of the systems that they use. That's how those companies are going to make money," he said. "That's what I think is going to happen in China."

Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Amazons-Cloud-Drifts-to-China-79679.html

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Thanks and Best Regards,

Yogaesh Sharda

IMT Ghaziabad

M: +917503139216

Article: 40 Million Target Customers Fall Prey to Hackers

Dear Sir,

PFB an article I found on Hackers:

40 Million Target Customers Fall Prey to Hackers

Target on Thursday disclosed that 40 million customer accounts might have been accessed by hackers between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15.

Customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the three-digit security codes on the backs of cards were compromised when they were swiped through machines in stores. The data breach did not extend to online transactions.

Target is working closely with law enforcement and financial institution investigators, and it has partnered with a third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough probe of the incident.

Customers should check their statements carefully and report suspicious or unauthorized activity to their credit card companies and to Target, the company advised.

A Common Occurrence

The timing of this security breach -- at the height of the holiday shopping season -- no doubt makes it worse for Target.

However, this is hardly the first instance of a retailer having to confess to millions of customers that their data was stolen.

"Credit card systems, like the ones utilized by big-box retailers, are designed with the customer in mind, rather than security," noted Cigital CTO John Steven.

"This hack is not a standalone occurrence; it has happened before and will certainly happen again."

A Worrisome Possibility

Target is remaining tightlipped about the technical details of the breach.

One possibility is that it resulted from malware being introduced to Target's POS system.

There are several ways the systems could have been compromised, said Mike Gross, senior manager of risk strategy and professional services at 41st Parameter.

"There have been past examples of everything from drive-by downloads at the store level or centralized retailer network compromises, to vulnerabilities being exposed within the POS software or even malicious code tied back to the POS manufacturer," he told the E-Commerce Times.

It is critical for Target and federal authorities to perform a full diagnostic of the attack to understand all of the potential points of vulnerability and how the data may have been transmitted back to the attackers, Gross emphasized. "If the issue does ultimately tie back to the POS manufacturer, then the breach could be much broader than originally thought."

Damage Control

There are steps that Target can take to reduce the chances something like this could happen again.

For starters, the company should improve security on the POS devices themselves by ensuring that any encryption is being done in hardware rather than software, and that relevant patches are installed, suggested Kevin O'Brien, director of product marketing at CloudLock.

It should also follow best practices around handling PCI, including wireless security and physical security precautions, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Consumers need to be alert for unusual activity on their credit profiles -- not just their Target credit cards, O'Brien added.

"Large retailers frequently correlate PCI data with buyer profiles, and if this theft -- which was almost certainly the act of a well-organized group of criminals, given the scope and logistical complexity of its execution -- also involved these databases," he said, "then the risk of that information being used to open new accounts and cards is significantly higher."

As for shunning Target as a security precaution, the barn door is slammed shut, O'Brien quipped.

The crime seems to have been confined to a risk window between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, he said. "It is most likely safe to use cards at Target again -- although what the lingering reputation damage will be is an open question."

Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/40-Million-Target-Customers-Fall-Prey-to-Hackers-79674.html#sthash.1ExJM5ZB.dpuf

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Thanks and Best Regards,

Yogaesh Sharda

IMT Ghaziabad

12FN-159

Article for Blog

Dear Sir,

PFA a paper i wrote on the innovative idea of crowd-funding giant - Kickstarter, and similar ventures run in India. I had written this for my EBDI project, but a model like this seemed to be a novel E-Commerce platform relevant for EBUS too.

Regards,

Shyam P

PGDM - Marketing

Coordinator, E-Cell

IMT-GHAZIABAD

shyamp63@gmail.com

FDI in E-Commerce

With all the debate going on around the FDI in retail, the newest topic for debate is the FDI in E-Commerce. India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy restricts e-commerce companies from offering services directly to retail consumers. At present, 100 percent FDI is allowed in business -to-business (B2B) e-commerce but not in retail trading. 

Global retail giant Amazon.com is 'engaging' with the government for relaxing of foreign investment norms in the e-commerce space, following which it will adopt a hybrid model to start product retailing. The Indian IT-ITes industry body Nasscom favours FDI in ecommerce in the retail sector, but wants the government to make some amount of local sourcing mandatory. Several global retailers have already raised their concerns over the sourcing norm. As per the foreign direct investment policy for multi-brand retail trading, at least 30 per cent of the value of procurement of manufactured/processed products shall be sourced from Indian 'small industries'.

Whether the FDI in E-commerce would be beneficial or not remains to seen, but it is going to be a long and tiring debate. 

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Thanks and Regards,

Vaisakh Krishnan

12DM-155

Section B

OLX and Quikr: Neeraj Kumar. 12FN-079

I found a good article on OLX and Quikr  business model, so I thought to share with you. Below is the link.

 

http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2012/11/08/olx-versus-quikr-how-do-the-two-classifieds-sites-stack-up/

 

Other Key Points are:

Segment: Online classifieds market (23.54 billion in 2012,  5% to the overall digital commerce market in India, Expected to grow by another 30% to reach INR 30.61 billion by end of this year )

 

1. Both of them follows C2C model.

 

2. OLX main revenue generation is through Advertisements only. Premium listing services has been temporarily stopped. Quikr Still has premium listing services and is also in Lead Generation business.

 

3. Mobile phones as strong channel of business. Last year claims shows that on Quikr 25 percent users are logging through Mobile apps whereas for OLX it is 45 percent.

 

OLX has much bigger volume than Quikr in terms of traffic. I have also attached the current google trend.

 

Best Regards,

Neeraj Kumar

EBUS- Section:A

PGDM 2012-14

IMT Ghaziabad

E-Business Vendors Return Policies: 12FN-079, Neeraj Kumar

Return Policy

 

The return policy is key aspect which customer looks in case the product is defective. Vendors are providing good return policies so that customer doesn't have to bear a lot of pain. Thus they also provide pick up for the products which has to be returned or replaced.  Few of the good return policies are below:

 

Amazon Return Policy

 

The following returns policy applies to items purchased on Amazon.

Product Categories	Return Time-frame from Delivery
	Item is damaged/ defective*	You no longer need the item**
Books, Movies & TV Shows, Beauty & Health	30 Days	7 Days
Watches, Fashion Jewellery	30 Days	30 Days
Electronics, Toys, Baby, Home & Kitchen	10 Days	10 Days

 Damaged/ Defective items must be returned in the original condition they were received in with all the accompanying accessories. Items that no longer need must be returned in new and unopened condition with all the original packing, tags, inbox literature, warranty/ guarantee card, freebies and accessories intact.

By filling up the form, the item can be Self-return or Return Pick-up (if delivery address is covered by FedEx).

 

Myntra Return Policy

 

Myntra.com's Return and Exchange Policy offers the option to return or exchange items purchased on Myntra.com within 30 days of the receipt. In case of returns, we will credit the amount paid for the products as cash back into Myntra cash back account. In this also request has to be placed online. Pick-up and self-ship facility is provided in this case too.

FlipKart Return Policy

Returns are covered by the 30 Day Replacement Guarantee for seller WS Retail or the 10 Day Replacement Guarantee for all other sellers on Flipkart. Replacement is subject to availability of stock with the Seller. If the product is out of stock, full refund is received.  No extra charges for returns and all replacements/pickups are done free of cost. Once the request for a replacement is made, a pickup is scheduled of the originally delivered product. In case FlipKart can't pick up the item from the location, it can be shipped back to the Seller. Flipkart reimburses the shipping charges against the original receipt

Neeraj Kumar

EBUS: Section-A

12FN-079

PGDM 2012-14

IMT Ghaziabad

 

Article on Jabong

Shock and awe

Jabong seems to be following a strategy of "shock and awe." The company, backed by Berlin-based Rocket Internet GmBH – a venture arm of the Samwer brothers – which is known for cloning several successful online business models of the US in other markets, is reverse-engineering the success formula of Flipkart in India: Add as many categories as possible; acquire customers at any cost; build a logistics arm from ground up and delight the customer.

Jabong has been extremely aggressive in winning over customers while the company officials deny resorting to heavy discounts. "We focus on variety, widest assortment, fastest delivery time and excellent customer service rather than deals and discounts," Manu Kumar Jain, co-founder and managing director of Jabong, said in an e-mail response to Techcircle.in. The company, which has its own warehouse, claims to deliver in top 10 cities within 48 hours and to other places within 1-3 days while it is delivering on the same day in metros like Delhi.

Getting bigger, quicker

Jabong is in a hurry in India. It wants to build a sizeable e-commerce company quicker even if that means it has to burn money to acquire customers and build up a costly warehousing, delivery and customer service infrastructure. According to industry sources, Rocket Internet has committed an amount in the range of $25-40 million for building out Jabong in India. Even though it is not a big sum, considering Jabong's rivals are well-funded, the e-commerce portal has been able to shoot into the big league with relatively less capital at disposal. In contrast, Flipkart has raised about $100 million while Snapdeal has raised $60 million through multiple rounds of fundraising and are still in the market to raise money. Yebhi.com, another rival, has also raised about $30 million in multiple rounds.

According to industry grapevine, Jabong is estimated to be spending close to Rs 2,000 per customer in acquisition costs. The average customer acquisition cost online is Rs 1,500, according to a study by Zinnov, a management consulting company catering to Fortune 1000 companies. When contacted, Flipkart declined to reveal its customer acquisition cost while Snapdeal did not respond to our calls and text messages. But for now, it's certain that almost all e-commerce companies are losing money on every transaction.

Says Mahesh Murthy, an e-commerce investor and partner of early-stage venture capital firm Seedfund, "Jabong has done to Flipkart what Flipkart has done to other e-commerce portals. Enter a market, spend outrageous amounts of money for customer acquisition and build revenues." Jabong is estimated to have budgeted Rs 75-80 crore for online advertising and is currently burning around Rs 5 crore a month.

However, Jabong has denied all industry-estimated figures in response to a detailed e-mail query sent by Techcircle.in.

Can it sustain?

But how long can Jabong continue to burn money and sustain the momentum? Says K Vaitheeswaran, founder and CEO of Indiaplaza, one of the oldest horizontal e-commerce players, "Customers are, by nature, the most disloyal entity. For any e-commerce player, acquiring customers might be easy but retaining them is not."

Even venture capitalists – who usually believe in the route of building companies ground up, spending huge money – disagrees with Jabong's approach. A venture capitalist with a leading firm says that India is not a market where one can build a "sustainable" business "aggressively." He doubts whether such spending can go on for long and is unsure if customers acquired in such a way are really the right ones since they have been lured by discounts and vouchers in the first place.

Mukesh Bansal of Myntra.com, which is the direct rival of Jabong in terms of product categories, adds, "Just offering discounts and vouchers is not a sustainable strategy. If one has a unique proposition to offer, then e-commerce is a big sector for everyone to have a share (of the market)."

Besides customer acquisition costs, building own logistics force may also turn out to be counterproductive in the long run even though it is helpful to build the market in the short term. Says Percy Avari, regional manager of Aramex (South Asia), a leading logistics and supply chain company, "Building and maintaining a large logistics staff is not sustainable if it's not your core business."

Jabong's India structure

Jabong is owned by Gurgaon-based Xerion Retail Pvt Ltd, which also owns the portal FabFurnish.com. Rocket Internet has backed Xerion, but how that has been legally structured is not known since foreign investment in multi-brand retail is not allowed in India. Rocket Internet has also invested in HeavenandHome.com in India.

Jabong (like any other Rocket Internet business) is built by consulting people, rather than hard core operations professionals. The top three people at Jabong are Manu Kumar Jain, Praveen Sinha and Arun Chandra Mohan – all of whom share the same designation: Co-founder and managing director. According to an employee, who requested anonymity, Jabong does not have a CEO. All three founders have distinct roles, though. Jain, who was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Co from May 2007 to December 2011, looks after marketing and brand building, and is the lone spokesperson for Jabong. Sinha, responsible for overall operations, was also a consultant with McKinsey prior to Jabong. Mohan, who is in-charge of sourcing, was a venture partner with Rocket Internet for almost a year and prior to that role, was a senior market analyst with IT research firm IDC.

Globally, Rocket Internet has always hired "consulting types" from firms like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group or Goldman Sachs. German magazine Der Spiegel says in a feature on the Samwer brothers, "These are the types of people who are accustomed to putting a clearly delineated plan into practice, rarely complain about having to work overtime and don't want too much freedom."

That is the Rocket Internet DNA – reflective of the Samwer brothers' approach to business – which is "cold, hard and dismissive," as the magazine described. They don't usually take in the "creative types, tinkerers and nerds." According to a CEO of a leading Indian payment company who had interacted with some of the Jabong executives, "They are extremely aggressive and are focused on getting the work done. They have a plan B if plan A does not work and a plan C also, just in case plan B does not work out."

The company works out of its sprawling office premises at Udyog Vihar in Gurgaon, which also house other ventures such as home décor portal Heaven & Home, stationery shopping site OfficeYes, as well as FoodPanda, PrintVenue, FabFurnish and 21Diamonds, all promoted by Rocket Internet in India. Rocket has 59 companies worldwide and is present in 40 countries. It operates through several entrepreneurs in residence (EIR) and venture development managers in India who are constantly evaluating opportunities in the Indian Internet space and are ready to take on executive positions when the businesses roll out.

Jabong is the biggest bet of Rocket in India. Going by the Samwer brothers' track record, they don't stay in a business for long. Either they sell out quickly to a direct competitor or a strategic buyer. For instance, the Samwer brothers started with Alando, an eBay clone, which they sold to eBay itself for $50 million in just three months after the launch of the website in 1999. Most recent example is of the sale of Citydeal, a Groupon clone, to Groupon itself in return for an estimated 10 per cent stake in the Chicago-headquartered deals company. But India is a different kettle of fish with customers more enticed by discounts and deals rather than convenience, as in other markets. Whether Rocket will continue to burn money till it sees the endgame remains to be seen.

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Rishi Gupta

Roll no. 12DM-121

EBUS-Section B

PGDM 2012-14

IMT  Ghaziabad