SigmaWay Blog

The present business environment is volatile and full of uncertainties. Therefore, a need arises to improve efficiency and profitability. Though many organizations rely on traditional techniques, predictive analytics is the new trend of managing risks and monitoring frauds which eliminates all the guesswork. Predictive analytics help us in reaching the source of fraudulent transactions and in dealing with future plausible attacks. Lack of corporate transparency and missing public trust should be dealt with by using advanced tools for managing huge data and ensuring accountability. Predictive analytics helps in building the customer profile to know his credibility which is useful for banks. Read more at : https://blogs.metricstream.com/ready-predictive-analytics-revolution/

Big data has now become old, organizations are very well familiar with it. But some of them are still struggling with data. Data lakes provides easy access of data and data mining. Due to management defaults data may turn into data swamps making analysis difficult. Data Lake has a lot of benefits, but the data growing in size becomes difficult to handle. To avoid this problem following steps are taken at the time of creation. 1) Too much data must not be collected at the beginning. 2) Data insighting cannot be done manually, so machine-learning capabilities should be enabled. 3) Businesses should keep an eye on changing data statistics and the employed models. To make it successful one needs to integrate it with business strategy and outcome. Read more at: https://www.readitquik.com/articles/elastic-computing/smart-ways-to-manage-your-big-data/

Smart phones have made healthcare management easier by healthcare management apps. From measuring pulse and heart rate to maintain health, healthcare apps can ensure physical and mental well being. Some of the best healthcare apps of 2017 are as follows.

1. WebMD – this free app can check the symptoms and can help detect a disease. 2. Micromedex – this paid app is a pharmaceutical reference and guide. 3. OneRx – this app helps to compare the costs of various medications in various medical stores. 4. Sugar Sense – this app is a great way to keep track of the blood sugar level. 5. MyChart – this app provides information about healthcare records. Read more at http://appinformers.com/best-healthcare-apps/11482/

A person holds “concentrated equity” when he owns a large portion of company’s stock in various forms such as Employee stock purchase plan, restrictive stock or incentive stock options  and he is an employee of that company. It is imperative to know what type of stock one owns and also its cost basis (cost of acquiring such stock) to know their tax liabilities such as capital gains tax. Each stock has different tax payment structure and liquidity. One also ought to know the key dates. By owning concentrated equity, we are exposed to concentrated risks as well as the opportunity to grow as and when the company grows.  Read more at: http://www.financeandflipflops.com/managing-concentrated-equity-in-company-stock-and-stock-options/

In today’s business world, outsourcing of overseas tech support is changing with an Innovative solution ‘TechtoUS’ that helps in eliminating language barrier and allows business and individuals. Local Outsourcing is more cost effective than outsourcing overseas. Overseas tech support is difficult for some people because they pay to businesses to call tech support for them. Read more at: https://www.computer.org/web/computingnow/insights/content?g=53319&type=article&urlTitle=how-technology-allows-your-business-to-outsource-without-going-overseas

Selfie stick has been in the market for a long time. It has led many clicks and takes and is owned by almost every selfie lover. But here comes another invention for the selfie lovers- AirSelfie. It is the camera drone which flies in the midair and clicks the videos and photographs.

The drone is extremely easy and safe to use. The iOS or android app lets you adjust the height and direction and helps the drone to take off. You could also manually move the drone and can touch it while it’s on in the midair.

The drone also lets you upload the photos directly to the social media app. If you need them, you could transfer it through Wi-Fi. Read more at: https://www.livescience.com/57185-airselfie-drone-takes-photos-in-midair.html

SecondMuse, place of work that collaborates with organizations to assist solve complicated issues, looked to the most recent drone and 360 video technologies to assist showcase cultivation — the farming of aquatic life-forms — in United Republic of Tanzania.

Led by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s InnovationXchange, in partnership with SecondMuse, the goal was to award comes that each facilitate scale back environmental impact and increase property.

Ben Kreimer, a drone and computer game individual, and Brett Garling, producer and founding father of Cut Canvas inventive, shot 360 video underwater, on land, and within the air to document 3 of those initiatives.

More than seventieth of Tanzanian alga farmers square measure ladies, and rising ocean temperatures square measure reducing the economic viability of alga farming, per the Blue Economy Challenge web site.Read more at : http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/06/08/drones-showcase-aquaculture-in-tanzania/#.WUK_3BN968V

The difference between steam video and live casting s that live casting is uninterrupted steaming directly into the web. Livecasting offers a much better job at communicating. It allows the views to feel the experience as if they were alongside the participants. Also it lets the audience draw their own conclusions. Video take livecasting altogether to a different level. Livecasting creates an opportunity which adds that missing human element, traditional advertising is thus pushed away. Live video allows brands to communicate emotions in a way that is less likely to be misconstrued. The relationship between AI and livecasting is evolving and is focused around user-generating content. Livecasting creates a platform for brands to connect, build, trust and convey emotion. Read more at: https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/social-media/hey-brands-busy-lifecasting-arent/

Artificial intelligence and improved technology without structured analytics can prove to be costly and can leave the company paralyzed. However, companies with strong analytics can make excellent use of it. Before Adopting artificial intelligence, the following points should be considered. 

1. The basic processes should be automated.

2. Structured analytics and centralized data processes.

3. Integration of structured analytics with artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence, if exploited to its full potential, can reinvent business. Read more at https://hbr.org/2017/06/if-your-company-isnt-good-at-analytics-its-not-ready-for-ai

Open data is the data which is easily accessible and is in such a format which can be used by anyone.This data may or may not be free. This data can be made available through the API or pay per use models. This concept was initiated in the 1950’s when World Data Centre system was formed to enhance accessibility. Companies can, with the help of open data, develop applications and improve their products. Government can ensure transparency and efficient use of public money. Open data helps in decision making. The only concern being data security and privacy. Open data should be transferred within the legal boundaries after filtering, which data can be transferred and which cannot be. Read more at: http://analyticsindiamag.com/what-is-open-data-and-where-can-you-find-it/

Many organizations have large amount of data, but don’t really know how to manage it all. You will decide to move all the data to the cloud, but, is your business ready for it? Do you move every single asset to the cloud? Once capital, infrastructure, technology, and operational aspects of the enterprise are under control they can start to think what needs to be optimized, how and what should be relocated to the cloud. It is critical to have a cloud strategy, make sure it is flexible due to the nature of growing and shrinking of data. Moving customer prone applications or internally developed applications to the cloud without careful evaluation can lead to loss in revenue. Applications can be ‘cloudified’ by using application-specific workloads such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) etc. To decide which application, make sense in cloud, enterprise’s IT teams must balance performance, interoperability and compatibility. Having a Data Center Management (DCM) platform allows company to procure, deploy, monitor and measure IT assets through web browser. Read more at: https://www.computer.org/web/data-center-insider/content?g=55674596&type=blogpost&urlTitle=big-data-in-the-mist-are-you-cloud-ready-

Machine learning can be used in our daily lives such as filtering the spams in our mailbox or for banks judging the credibility of customers before issuing credit cards to them. We can even deposit checks through our phone. Machine learning models train itself, gather inputs and generate output. Machine learning tools are used as a part of business intelligence. Through Natural Language Processing (NLP) machine learning can comprehend speech or written words and generate graphs and figures. It can correct any anomalies in business and find out when the demand for your product is high. The more inputs one feeds in faster it learns. Read more at: https://www.sisense.com/blog/beyond-hype-machine-learning-unlocking-power-bi/

LED light bulbs are a step towards an efficient utilization of energy, therefore it is one of the best energy-efficient business model in India. India's usage of LED light bulbs was only restricted in the households, thus to encourage usage of LED light bulbs government has leveraged its buying power and made LEDs available at discounted prices. Power consumption of LEDs is around 2% as compared to 15% earlier. The article further explains the benefits of LEDs to the economy's energy, financiers, users of equipment, improving energy efficiency, lowering the emission intensity and avoiding a spike in emissions. But still India lacks in the infrastructure required for the further improvements.Read more at: http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-editorials/an-energy-efficient-business-model/

To replace the web of indirect taxes, GST has been introduced. Registration is mandatory under GST if:

1. Sales of goods and services are more than 20 lakhs (Rs 10 lakh for North East states) in a financial year.

2. Business is involved in inter-state supplies or supplies via e-commerce.

3. Taxpayers already registered under VAT/service tax also needs to migrate and register under GST. 

The article furthers explains the benefits of GST registration such as claiming input tax credit, ease in paying taxes, paperless compliance of taxes , etc. It also explains the losses to be faced if the business is not registered under GST.

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/policy-trends/heres-how-your-business-needs-to-change-for-gst/articleshow/58995677.cms

New startups come regularly. But less than 50% businesses are not closed in the next 5 years. This shows that how well the businesses will do in the future have to do with how one is spending on it today i.e.; money habits. Poor money habits to look after are: First, not having regards for "little money", spending, smaller denomination in huge amount causes less access to actual working capital. The second is not diversifying the income stream of the business. Diversifying is the most potent way to get a large market share and raise income. The third is not saving. Fourth is not taking steps to reduce credit card balances and debt. Fifth is not maximizing tax deductions and write-offs. Sixth is not keeping oneself on a salary. Read more at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/294877

Technological unemployment is becoming very common nowadays. Humans are getting replaced by machines in many sectors. This problem is however, counterbalanced by cheaper day-to-day lives, which is made possible by technology. The most important example is a smart phone. Smart phones have made most tasks just one tap away. One phone can serve the utility of a phone, torchlight, television, camera, boom box and others and thus, reducing day-to-day costs. Communication, entertainment, energy, transportation, housing, education, healthcare are some of the sectors where technology has played an important role and has increased efficiency with reduced costs. Read more at https://singularityhub.com/2017/06/08/technology-will-erase-jobs-but-also-make-everything-cheap-or-free/

Traditional methods of procurement of inputs like person hours, capacity and other components are ineffective and costly for the clients. According to output-based pricing model output is pre-determined by the vendor and he’s accountable for achieving that level. There has been reduction in checkout time as analytics solutions for optimization are available to the vendors. Vendors face the overall risk of an outcome and at the same time have a share in profitability. In India, due to unawareness of analytics, companies have not yet adopted the model. Companies in India are unwilling to buy analytics services. A more output based approach can cost-friendly. Read more at:http://analyticsindiamag.com/outcome-driven-pricing-model-analytics-really-work/

In a world where Digital Privacy is under threat, India has a huge role to play. Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and Uber are huge data miners, that sell their data for their profit and have been US government’s primary national security intelligence resource. On the contrary Indian internet industries can provide privacy respecting services that compete directly with services provided by the US data miners, priced reasonably in local terms in all the developed and developing societies because India has enormous potential and talent to provide such services and help end the privacy invasion. Read more at http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/head-off-digital-colonialism-how-indian-it-can-compete-with-google-and-facebook-and-show-the-world-a-better-way/

In this blog, the author explains the steps to a dual risk rating system. In such a system, the probability of default (PD) is estimated separately from the loss given default (LGD). The expected loss for a given loan is then calculated as their product. Five essential steps to a dual risk rating system are: Understanding the key drivers of a dual risk system; Demonstrating the advantages of a dual risk rating approach through case studies; Implementing separate PD and LGD credit scoring solutions; Developing a PD and LGD mapping scale; and lastly Combining dual rating scores. Read more at : http://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/blog/risk-insight-five-essential-steps-to-a-dual-risk-rating-system

A Risk Analyst frequently comes across companies with incomplete financial information which is essential for their credit assessment. To solve this problem a dual approach that takes into account both the quantity and materiality of the exposures is useful: a) When there is a large number of small exposures, it is reasonable to fill gaps by leveraging company credit score benchmarks or looking at the Country Risk Scores and Industry Risk Scores that capture the risk of doing business in a country/industry.b) When there are large exposures,  we need to employ advanced statistical techniques, tailored to the company type, industry, and region, to estimate missing financial ratios needed in our fundamentals-based models, and thus generate a credit risk score.Read more at: http://marketintelligence.spglobal.com/blog/when-enough-is-enough-assessing-credit-risk-of-companies-with-incomplete-financials