the internet of everything

VOLUME
20
O C T
2014
THE INTERNET OF
EVERYTHING
The Dawn of IoE
SP IRE
With PLDT ALPHA Enterprise end-to-end ICT solutions,
your business can now rise higher than before
As Philippine enterprise moves to compete on higher levels, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
is there to support them from start to finish with end-to-end ICT solutions, with
full-spectrum expert support and our powerful network.
www.pldtalpha.com
88-ALPHA (25742)
ASC Ref Code: P043P071014P
PROMISE AND SUBSTANCE
Jovy Hernandez
Editor
Nico Alcoseba
Mikey Smyth
Managing Editors
Gerrard Fabie
Editorial Adviser
Markus Jentes
Creative Director
Andrew Batiduan
Art Director
Vickie Perez de Tagle
Executive Producer
Rissa Golloso
Rose Abes
Ram Anciro
Irene Dungo
Erika Legaspi
Jason Mejia
Emily Reyes
Check Trayfalgar
Cheska Villanueva
Editorial Coordinators
Michal Perez de Tagle
Enrique Estagle
Karen Paguia
Kaye Pineda
Igor Cruz
Dessa Malaluan
Mac Lubaczewski
Paula Venturina
Krystel Santos
Daniella Marfori
Patricia Mariano
Editorial Contributors
One of the first things you will probably notice
upon handling this latest Hot Joe issue is that we have
more pages than usual. This is due to recent positive
levels of activity here at PLDT ALPHA Enterprise.
For PLDT Insider starting on page 16, we
have not one, but two interesting stories. SMART
Communications, Inc. Network Services Division
Head Mar Tamayo and Maynilad Senior Vice President
and CIO Kiko Castillo, who is our first insider outside
the PLDT Group, share the limelight to give their
valuable insights as indicative of larger group strategies.
Partner Peek brings another double-treat on
page 24, with a look at Tech Mahindra and Infosys.
Both have proven themselves instrumental in our
commitment to serve Philippine enterprise through
more insight and successful machine-to-machine
innovation.
We’re also proud to be featuring Pharex as our
Live Wire on page 14 for this issue. Just as in any of
our growing partnerships, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
works hard for the trust and fidelity of our customers
as they chart new inroads into fresh territories and
categories.
You’ll be seeing more of our new section
dedicated to the mobile side of the enterprise business
on MoBiz (page 70), which for this issue introduces the
board of directors of the first Internet of Everything
(IoE) Consortium in the country, a body dedicated to
the advancement of integrated solutions and devices.
It ties in seamlessly with our Main Window (page 8)
which in turn describes the IoE’s precursor, SMART
M2M solutions, as explained by SMART Enterprise’s
Chet Alviz and Gio Abaquin.
While so much has happened, more remains
to be achieved. And the milestones PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise and SMART Enterprise have newly set all
promise to deliver even more substance (and probably
even more pages) for future Hot Joe editions. I invite
you to keep watching this growing space.
Jovy hernandez
Editor
OCT 2014
Calls
CLIENT
Hi Coco,
VOLUME
I’d like to thank you for rendering us
excellent and proactive customer service
all the time since we’ve worked on the
AB Leisure Projects. Thank you for the
patience in carrying on my complaints
until the end of installation. You are truly
an asset of your company.
Good luck on your new assignment!
20
05
07
08
14
16
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Editor-in-Chief Jovy Hernandez
explains the sheer amount of
content awaiting readers in this
information-packed issue of
Hot Joe.
CLIENT CALLS
24
32
Letters from actual PLDT clients,
written to share their own unique
experiences with PLDT.
MAIN WINDOW
Learn about the Internet of
Everything, and how it’s made
possible through SMART’s
wireless network.
LIVE WIRE
Philippine pharmaceutical Pharex
explains how they are taking
productivity to the next level
with M2M-enabled solutions.
PLDT INSIDER
First, we explore the M2M
optimization of Manila’s water
supply; and then we take a look at
the SMART network enabling all
the smart devices of the IoE.
44
56
PARTNER PEEK
A look at two of the
companies helping to
bring the IoE into reality.
WERE YOU THERE
Moving towards tomorrow with
events like the PLDT Cloud
Boot Camp, the Philippine IoE
Consortium elections,
the Asia ICT Summit,
and more.
62
68
70
SOLVED
M2M applications across
the board: enabling business
in every way.
CAUGHT ON PAGE
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
transforming business through
stronger relationships with
Unilever, Vodafone, Macondray,
the FDA, and more.
76
78
COMING + GOING
What’s rising, what’s dying,
and what’s dead among the
technologies of today.
SLEEPER HIT
Philippine healthcare goes to
the next level with the advent
of an IoE ecosystem.
MOBIZ
The Philippine Internet of
Everything Consortium brings
their formidable resources
to the table in pursuit of an
IoE-enabled future for the
Philippines.
THE ALPHA BITS
Bits of knowledge any
ALPHA should know.
THE LAST SAY
Eric R. Alberto on the sciencefiction-flavored, yet totally
attainable, future awaiting us.
Dear all,
I just want to let you know that Shandra
provided me with exceptional service
while I was having difficulty with turning
on my data roaming. She stayed up with
me until very late at night trying out
many things until we finally got my data
roaming to work while I was in Indonesia.
She should be commended for her efforts
and I really appreciate her hard work.
Thank you,
Ning Sung Delgado
Transnational Diversified Group
Mylene D. De Mesa
AB Leisure Exponent Inc.
Dear Eric, Jovy, Jay, and team,
PLDT team, thank you so much for the
support. PLDT ALPHA really works at
warp speed!
Jovy/Jojo, we will do 18 more of these
OBOs between now and rest of year, not
to mention the number of new business
centers we will be setting up. OBOs
have a 2-week construction period. New
business centers are a bigger build for us
and will take anywhere from 70-85 days
to complete. You will have more time to
provide the wired facility.
Once again, thank you
PLDT ALPHA team!
Best,
Hory Aycardo
PBCom
On behalf of Stellar Philippines, we just
wanted you to know that you did a terrific
job on delivering the circuit to Naga. We
are not only building relationships but
also a partnership with the best in the
country!
Again, great job. We really appreciate
your efforts.
Sincerely,
Reggie C. Waje
Vice President, Information Technology
(Philippines) Stellar
Just would like to share with you that we
had a very successful videocon for the last
day of our arbitration today.
Things would have not been smooth
and would have not been done so
professionally if not for all of you who
extended help in the set-up of the video
conference facility.
Everyone in your team contributed in
his own way to accommodate our short
notice requests. Special mention to
Andrew as well for being with us in
the venue on a Sunday.
We in Maynilad greatly appreciate the
support you have given us. Thank you
very much!
Best regards,
Anette H. De Ocampo
Assistant Vice President
Commercial & Marketing Division
Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
Hi Eric,
I would like to commend Denise Tan.
Her immediate superior is
Dennis Magbatoc.
Like Jeff, Jake, and Dianne, Denise is a
clear example of a very good account
manager. You do not need to follow up
on things. She will attend to action items
and get back to the client even before the
client remembers a follow up is needed.
Regards,
Jolly Timbol
Wideout Workforces Inc.
WE WANT TO
HEAR FROM
YOU!
SEND YOUR
THOUGHTS,
COMMENTS,
OR FEEDBACK
AND RECEIVE
PREMIUM
ALPHA ITEMS!
Email: [email protected]
Call: 88-ALPHA
(88-25742)
or visit
www.pldtalpha.com
Subscribe to our
e-newsletter, ALPHA Mail,
and keep up-to-date
with our latest news
and offers.
THE NETWORK BEHIND
THE CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
INTERNET OF EVERYTHING
SMART Enterprise leads the way for relevant business IoE benefits
OCT 2014
The Internet of Things is now widely accepted as the “Internet
of Everything” (IoE) in recognition of its grander scope and
ambitions. However it owes its origins to – of all things – the
collective Coke habit of a few researchers in 1982.
OCT 2014
Geek lore has it that a
bunch of Carnegie Mellon
computer scientists were
rather miffed to find
their favorite Coca-Cola
vending machine empty
just when they needed
their cold caffeine fix late
into late term nights. And
so about six of them set
about hooking it up with
sensors, and online it went, streaming
accurate and up-to-the minute crucial data
such as Diet Coke availability to drowsy
researchers throughout the campus.
Since then, the IoE has seen steady
growth with countless applications and
far reaching implications. Boon or bane,
opinions on the IoE are still mixed
between the Technorati and Luddites.
One view is clear and nearly unanimous,
however, and that is that 2014 is the year
of IoE, and from here there is no
turning back.
Inevitably there will be countless
business applications as well. In the
Philippines, SMART Enterprise is now
recognized by many as the leader in M2M
(machine-to-machine) business solutions.
M2M operating environments are also
seen as precursors to the arrival of IoE.
Recently HOT JOE got together
with SMART AVP and SMART-SUN
Enterprise Marketing and Project
Management Head Chet Alviz and
SMART Enterprise M2M and Enterprise
Mobility Product Manager Gio Abaquin.
The two are at the spearhead for SMART
Enterprise’s M2M play. So far, both agree
that enterprise adoption has been great.
HJ: Just to get everything down pat, how
would you define or envision the Internet
of Everything (IoE)?
Chet: When like-minded people talk about
IoE –people from Georgia Tech, people
from the Conexus Alliance, even people
I met at the Mobile World Congress in
Barcelona- it’s like mad science. In reality
it’s something that’s bigger than a lot of
us. In fact, I believe it will profoundly
change lifestyles.
OCT 2014
Think of waking up in the morning
with an alarm clock that’s connected to
your calendar. If your schedule says that
your morning meeting was moved to later
on in the day, the alarm clock will actually
“decide” to let you sleep in. When you get
to your car, if it’s low on gas, the map will
actually tell you where the nearest gasoline
station is. It actually predicts your best and
most efficient route. It would also map out
your preferred parking slots.
Connecting all these capabilities
and functions means having relevant
data process in making everything more
predictive– that’s where the Internet of
Everything comes in. Obviously you
have to have a very strong network,
and it doesn’t really have to be wireless.
It takes very robust fixed and wireless
infrastructure that’s ready to take on all
of these potential devices, potentially
billions of devices. Worldwide, there very
well could be around 20 billion connected
devices by 2020 according to Gartner.
HJ: Could you tell us more about the M2M
solutions created by the PLDT Group?
Chet: In reality, M2M actually started with
the PLDT Group, not necessarily SMART.
As you may know, all our solutions
are actually driven by the client, not
necessarily driven by the product, or the
product manager, or the product team.
The first solution was Shops.Work
Unplugged (SWUP), born out of a need
for mobile POS. There was a distinct
client clamor for the solution which
essentially is a mobile SIM-enabled POS
for industries such as delivery and logistics
services. The term “mobile payments” and
even the word M2M wasn’t even widely
used at the time. In 2007, we followed
with Fastrack- which, again, was born out
of client needs.
The PLDT Group’s characteristic
initiative is of course always listening to
the client first, in this case it was their need
to track mobile and vehicular assets of
clients in real time. Among our first clients
was a security company and eventually
we attracted other clients who needed to
monitor fuel trucks and other vehicles.
HJ: With PLDT Watcher, it’s clearly also
the same product development process?
Chet: Yes. Obviously, a motto such as
“Relationships First” has to be taken
seriously. Listening to customers is a
paramount thing and one early indicator
was that everybody wants to go wireless
and eventually to M2M.
M2M involves the ease of data
transmission between devices and sensors,
with minimal or no human intervention.
When we came out first with M2M
Merchandising we kept that in mind,
listening to the retail industry which
involved tedious inventory tracking
which we promptly automated.
Gio: We wanted to diversify our services.
That was the era of “unli” and the telco
price wars, so we wanted to differentiate
SMART as not just offering unli services
but true higher value solutions.
Chet: After M2M Merchandising came
M2M Rewards, and then M2M Pharma,
and likewise they were all customer-driven.
I think the success of our M2M
services lies in the fact that we target
particular industries, and particular
companies. It’s impractical to set out to
solve everything for an entire segment, it’s
more about discovering exact customer
needs and growing it from there. In a
sense, M2M is already the Internet of
Things, one machine talking to another
machine however without relevant data
or complete analytics.
IoE will further
enhance businesses
and expedite tasks,
because there are
always more
important
things to do.
Gio: Internet of Things (IoT) involves
grouping a bunch of IoT solutions around
a central process. Today, an IoT solution
could monitor present pollution levels in
Beijing. It can be as simple as going to an
app, accessing a web tool, or a website
which receives feeds from the air quality
meters in Beijing– that’s an IoT Solution.
But the moment I integrate other
systems or other IoT solutions that are fed
data from yet other IoT solutions, we have
a more dynamic independent process.
For example, itineraries or scheduler apps
can inform travellers that a 2 PM flight to
Beijing is going to be cancelled because
OCT 2014
the air quality is really bad—it’s all become
predictive at that point.
Everything's getting
faster, most notably
for transactions.
HJ: In your opinion, what are the critical
ingredients to make M2M and IoE a true
reality in the Philippines?
that early adopters stand the most to gain.
Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, retail, banks,
survey companies are also steeped in
innovation, they posses that same driving
force of creating their own futures, I think
that’s where their success is founded on.
Chet: Like we said, it definitely needs
HJ: What is your personal vision of
how an M2M-powered business works?
a very sturdy network, and relevant
applications– and when I say relevant, I
mean not just run of the mill. The kind
of apps we’re thinking about are the
life-defining applications in health and
in lifestyle enhancement. Again, going
wireless will be important but not solely.
Devices and sensors could be either
SIM-based or non-SIM-based, could be
WiFi-capable or be fixed. There are certain
relevant applications, mostly in lifestyle
or corporate areas, that are available
today. But you can’t escape the fact that
everything will rely on the network. It will
be the ultimate back-end processor that
converges all of the relevant data together,
making each sensor or each device
interaction more meaningful.
HJ: What are the challenges SMART and the
rest of the PLDT Group currently face with
regards to developing its M2M portfolio?
Gio: One of the challenges would be
getting everyone to agree on a certain
shared standard. That’s one of the
objectives of the IoE Consortium
that was just formed.
Chet: You have to have an IoE standard
that at least connects all the relevant
services– cars should be talking seamlessly
to other cars to avoid collision, for
example. I think it’s more about the clients
embracing technology, particularly the
technology we create after listening to
their pain points. It can take some time for
clients to actually embrace it, usually after
some introspection. Even industry leaders
are bound to look over their shoulders and
asking: is anybody else doing this? And
we understand that, along with the fact
OCT 2014
Chet: I think SMART M2M WorkForce
is one good example. If you think about
it, a day in the life of a sales professional
can easily be transformed dramatically.
In an IoE empowered workforce, all of
the relevant data is being transferred and
updated continuously just as in a true
mobile sales force.
It virtually eliminates all of the
paperwork, as everything is fed and
analyzed from the back-end. And that’s
just the start; there are now mobile
devices that can read client fingerprints
as signatures.
the years specifically with the responsive
and insightful verticals I’ve described
will generate new relevant M2M services.
I think that slots in nicely with the
newly formed Internet of Everything
Consortium.
We’re pretty sure that the thought
leaders that we’ve selected and invited to
the IoE Consortium would give us a very
healthy input as to what services should
come out next.
We’re also looking at the recent
Center of Excellence that we initiated
with Infosys, of course there would be
an international flavor for those resulting
services. These are the far-reaching goals
that we have for the Internet
of Everything.
Gio: Everything’s getting faster, most
notably for transactions. But with faster
turnaround of transactions from service
to sales, one challenge would be new
demands on employees. They would
need to adapt to that kind of change
through training, so it’s not all just about
accelerated processes.
Chet: Any accelerated process makes your
work easier, giving you time to enjoy your
life. IoE will further enhance businesses
and expedite tasks, because there are
always more important things to do.
HJ: Since the recent M2M solutions launch,
what are SMART Enterprise’s next steps?
Chet: We continue talking to clients and
diagnose their needs. However, we do not
force any solution, we’re always mindful
of how it fits into each specific vertical
that we approach.
From a product standpoint, the
relationships that we’ve developed over
OCT 2014
We want Pharex to
be in every household
in the Philippines,
M2M
FOR
PHARMACEUTICAL
EXCELLENCE
Pharex aims for national
reach with the help of
SMART M2M Sales
states Pharex HealthCorp President
and Chief Executive Officer Beau Agana.
It’s a bold statement, but with all the ambition
and resources at their disposal, nothing can
stop Pharex from reaching for the stars.
PHAREX HealthCorp, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of
Pascual Laboratories, Inc.,
was formally established
in April 1972 as Pascual
Laboratories’ exclusive marketing, sales
and distribution arm. Its name, Pharex, is
short for “Pharmaceutical Excellence”.
PascualLab is the 2nd largest Filipino
pharmaceutical company, and it had
already signed up for PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise solutions such as colocation,
PABX, and Help Desk support. That
made it natural for Pharex to turn to
SMART Enterprise for a technological
solution to establish a presence in every
Philippine household. Pharex's goal is to
extend its brand reach – a purpose for
which SMART Enterprise’s M2M Sales
is ideal.
Enhancing the Customer Experience
SMART’s M2M Sales solution
provides real-time updates on sales leads,
the ability to monitor service application
progress, and more. It’s a Customer
Relationship Management tool which
provides relevant information to field
personnel, automating sales processes
for enhanced customer experiences. The
M2M Sales platform is based on the
world-famous Salesforce.com.
OCT 2014
SMART and PLDT have been
offering M2M solutions since 2003 with
the introduction of SWUP (Shops.Work
UnPlugged), and it was this expertise that
made them an excellent partner for IP
Converge (IPC) and Salesforce.com. IPC
is the biggest provider of Salesforce.com
in the Philippines, with certifications such
as ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management
Systems), ISO 27001:2005 (Information
Security Management Systems), and
Salesforce.com Certified Resources.
M2M Sales equips Pharex’s
medical representatives with up-to-date
functionalities and information at their
fingertips, through any mobile device,
greatly simplifying their tasks. This
includes inventory forecasting, contact
management with single-view customer
profiles and constantly updated contact
information, and access to a database
where reps can share files or documents
as well as look at enterprise data analytics.
A Partner Who Can Offer the Best
It’s this mix of features and
expertise that made PLDT and SMART
Enterprise the perfect choice for Pharex.
“Of course we were considering other
vendors but we saw a very good fit with
the team that SMART Enterprise was
able to provide for us,” said Mr. Agana.
“We really went through a process of
evaluating different vendors, suppliers,
and network providers. It just so happens
that ePLDT happens to have the best
bundle with regard to hardware, and also
more importantly the software and apps
that we needed.”
Mr. Agana has big dreams for the
future – dreams that involve PLDT
and SMART Enterprise. “We have a
big vision of where we want to take
the Pharex business. Innovation has
always been part of our make-up. For
example, we pioneered uni-branding
26 years ago—when nobody else was
talking about uni-branding generics. So
we continue to push the envelope, and
where else do we turn to but a partner
who can offer the best.”
Beau Agana prescribes connectivity
for excellent pharma distribution
and operations.
OCT 2014
Insider
PLDT
FUTURE
MAKER
It would do anyone well to ask Maynilad Senior
Vice President and CIO Francisco “Kiko” Castillo
about our technologically driven future, because
he’s actually worked on it. In his younger days,
about 20 years ago, the Spanish-Filipino mestizo
technocrat had studied and helped develop the
present interconnected society we live in today.
OCT 2014
Among the cooler projects he’s worked
on, nothing can quite compare to “neural
networks”, the conceptual and practical
foundation of artificial intelligence.
“As our world increasingly grows more
dependent on technology, we are developing
hardware that is faster and cheaper, all in an
environment of massed computing power,”
Mr. Castillo says, adding that AI, for better
or worse, will probably arrive by 2030.
OCT 2014
Individuals and businesses have
long dreamt of intelligent machines, the
wondrous devices that would eventually
make lives easier, and to a certain happy
extent this has come true.
Technology will always wield
irresistible effects on society and
individuals. For Mr. Castillo, mastering
it was a means to avoid the lockstep
dreariness of “general management”. After
his bachelor’s in ECE (Electronics and
Communications Engineering) at De La
Salle University – Manila, he was soon on
to post-graduate work, which eventually
led to a full PhD in Barcelona, Spain at the
Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya.
This gave him the know-how and
credentials to take on the excitement of
leading R&D in electronics, including
artificial intelligence. Word quickly spread
on his talents and insight, and he was soon
a cross-border consultant for many Asian
utilities, telecoms, and energy companies.
M2M and the Internet of Things
to Maynilad mean basically being
able to sense water and effluent
flow, pressures, liquid levels, etc.,
at many different points scattered
all over the place and being able
to harness that data and produce
meaningful analyses.
The Early Years
“One of the pioneering projects we
did for Maynilad was the ‘Read and Bill’,
or you can simply call it ‘Spot Billing’
wherein customer meters are read, and
corresponding bills are printed right at
the customer’s site,” he says. Again word
of success spread fast, and soon other
utilities adopted the system. As far as
his implementation skills went, this was
enough proof for Maynilad, who soon
hired him as a consultant to tackle a broad
range of IT issues.
“Many companies have the same
issues,” Mr. Castillo says. “The difference
with Maynilad is that as a well-run private
company, it enjoys more agility in terms of
addressing those issues. There will always
be a lot of technical promises but how
many of them actually solve these business
problems and challenges? It’s often a
more difficult and larger operational issue
involved than technology per se.”
For Maynilad the three most nagging
issues back then were the same ones
confronting most large companies:
rationalized email, network stability and
speed, and the relevance of processes
and system designs to directly support
OCT 2014
the business. “A lot of manual work
was still being done,” Mr. Castillo said,
also pointing out that there have been
monumental improvements since then.
Maynilad’s current innovation is its
dashboard operational screen view for
managers like Mr. Castillo, generating live
technical field data including water pressure
along the lines, flows, reservoir levels,
plant production, deep well production,
among others.
It even has a catchy name, Field
MoUS, (Field Monitoring User System)
and Mr. Castillo cites this particular
SMART M2M-enabled solution as a key
factor for getting 100% real time field
data monitoring capability by year-end.
This consolidates other PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise solutions already in place such
as Hosted Exchange and plans for Disaster
Preparedness and Continuity contingencies
at off-site PLDT VITRO Data Centers.
However, it’s always an evolving
environment and Mr. Castillo cites the
need for continuous improvement. “There
are new challenges today of security, data
integrity, and of course how to keep on
making processes faster and more efficient.
It never stops, but definitely we don’t have
the day-to-day firefighting that we had
three years ago.”
The Emergence of M2M
In the tradition of big thinkers,
Mr. Castillo seeks to simplify and not
complicate. When asked about SMART
M2M (Machine-to-Machine) solutions and
the eventual Internet of Everything (IoE)
to which they lead, there is first a slightly
amused look on his face. “M2M and the
Internet of Things to Maynilad mean
basically being able to sense water and
effluent flow, pressures, liquid levels, etc., at
many different points scattered all over the
place and being able to harness that data
and produce meaningful analyses.”
And perhaps that’s the key point.
No matter how near-intelligent a system
gets, whether it be on M2M or IoE,
human discernment of all data and input
remains key. “The challenge is the ability
to interpret the results from raw data
and derive really useful information. The
way to interpret the data will depend on
the nature of the business and how you
run it.” This part will always remain very
human, at least for the immediate future.
On that note, the dual nature of
artificial intelligence inevitably arises. For
Mr. Castillo, AI is an eventuality due to
the fact that hardware is becoming “faster,
cheaper, and more pervasive”. The main
difference is the fact that the cloud frees
up the old centralized model and yields
infinitely more computing power over a
large number of distributed servers.
Self-aware machines are possible and
for him we may very well see the day they
become a reality. “There are positive and
negative implications. I saw an article a
couple of days ago, and it said that by
2030 or 2040 humans may no longer be
the dominant species. Sure is something to
think about.”
It sure is.
OCT 2014
Insider
PLDT
PREPARING FOR THE
“NEW NORMAL”
Mar Tamayo, Network Services Division Head for SMART Communications, Inc.,
shares his views on the advent of the IoE
Mario G. Tamayo, known to friends and associates as “Mar”,
has been with SMART since its earliest years. In that time he’s
seen the mobile telecommunications landscape shift dramatically
with evolving technology and social behavior, and he predicts
a world where network infrastructure becomes even more
important and powerful than ever. This would mark the advent
of the Internet of Everything.
OCT 2014
Mr. Tamayo graduated from the
University of Sto. Tomas with a BS
in Electronics and Communications
Engineering, and began his professional
career with Eastern Telecommunications - his
first experience with what he calls “real-world
telecom basics”. It allowed him to develop
the technical skills, particularly in database
management and programming, that would
prove advantageous when he began working
for SMART and its cellular (mobile) network.
“SMART was, at that time, changing
the landscape of mobile communications
by offering an alternative to landline service
through affordable mobile service,” says
Mr. Tamayo. “This is when SMART began
offering prepaid subscriptions, which was
then unheard of in the Philippines. I led the
team of in-house engineers, together with a
start-up partner, which developed SMART’s
first prepaid system.”
That same system - much evolved, of
course - is currently the basis for SMART’s
considerable prepaid subscriber base. And
just as he did all those years ago, Mr. Tamayo
is helping to prepare SMART’s network for
a new trend that will completely change the
nature of Philippine telecommunications.
OCT 2014
The SMART Network for Smart Devices
Mr. Tamayo today holds the position
of Network Services Division Head
for SMART Communications, Inc.,
responsible for the company’s networkquality-benchmarks and non-financial
targets. As the man in charge of the
nationwide operation and maintenance of
SMART’s wireless services, systems and
equipment, he is uniquely suited to give an
expert opinion on the upcoming “Internet
of Everything”.
The Internet of Everything refers
to the trend of adding connectivity
and intelligence to “things”. Previously,
the Internet was about interconnecting
people - allowing them to share text,
images, videos, and games across physical
boundaries. As such, the Internet has
changed the world, from personal
relationships to government policies
and entire economic systems. Now,
technology advances another step forward
by including “things” in the system - cars,
health-monitoring wristbands, thermostats,
and even Internet-connected crock-pots
that allow users to adjust settings from the
other side of the world. This “Internet of
Things” may bring about an all-inclusive,
hyper-efficient technological hegemony.
Recently, the news has been filled with
reports concerning the latest developments
of so-called smart cars, smart appliances,
and smartwatches. These things are
“smart” when they have the capability
to use the Internet and interconnect to
ecosystems of devices, software, and
services. It is Mr. Tamayo’s job to make
sure that the best network for smart
devices will be SMART Communications,
Inc.
Changing Paradigm
SMART currently operates more than
12,000 cell sites nationwide, the majority
of which are 4G broadband stations
capable of high-speed mobile Internet.
SMART’s network covers more than
80% of the country, with 4G coverage
growing in major cities and municipalities
nationwide. And they continue to invest
heavily in network infrastructure, preparing
OCT 2014
In the future,
everything - not just
your computers and
phones, but also
your appliances, your
household lights,
and your car - will
be connected to the
Internet."
for the advent of the IoE. According to
research by Cisco, the number of M2M
interconnections is projected to match
the population of the earth by 2018, with
global IP traffic reaching an annual rate of
1.6 zettabytes - a staggering one and a half
trillion gigabytes a year.
“The advent of the Internet of
Everything, plus evolving market needs
and expectations, has changed the
paradigm of how network infrastructures
are to be built and how services will
be delivered,” admits Mr. Tamayo. “In
the future, everything - not just your
computers and phones, but also your
appliances, your household lights, and your
car - will be connected to the Internet. This
is the reason why we have invested heavily
in fortifying and evolving our network
infrastructure, from ensuring that users
have access wherever they are through our
wireless network, to bringing only the best
and the fastest Internet experience with
our nationwide fiber optic network.”
SMART, which is a member of
the Philippine Internet of Everything
Consortium (PIoEC), is helping Philippine
businesses and individuals prepare for what
Mr. Tamayo calls, “the deluge of machineto-machine implementations in the years
to come.”
“We are expanding our coverage
nationwide and adding capacity to our
base stations and other facilities to meet
this expected demand in data traffic. We
are also preparing to transition to the
IP version 6 (IPv6) network standard to
prepare for the individual IPv6 address
requirements of devices,” he reports.
Other projects include SMART’s adoption
of LTE-Advanced, eMBMS (LTE
Broadcast), and a self-optimizing network.
“All of these are geared toward
building a robust and advanced network
that can cater to the “new normal” and
the growing demands of our subscribers
nationwide,” he says. This “new normal”
of a world where everything is increasingly
“smart” will be supported and connected
by the SMART network, under the careful
and expert guidance of network specialists
like Mr. Tamayo.
OCT 2014
INNOVATION
NEXT-GENERATION
AND THE
ENTERPRISE
Tech Mahindra Philippines Country Manager shares insights on how
ICT innovations and technologies converge to affect business and lives
The ICT sphere is an innovation ecosystem that simply does not rest.
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise is focused on continually empowering
Philippine businesses with the latest and best-in-class ICT services and
solutions. In 2006, it chose Tech Mahindra as a technology partner in
multiple areas within PLDT. Tech Mahindra was chosen for its vast
implementation experience, deep understanding of emerging markets
such as the Philippine Enterprise and SME sector, and also for its
adaptation of ICT innovations.
OCT 2014
OCT 2014
HOT JOE sat down with Tech
Mahindra Philippines Country Manager
Bala Shanmugakumar to learn more
about the company, its partnership with
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART
Enterprise, and his thoughts on the role
M2M Innovation plays in enterprises…
and our very lives.
Why Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra is a Global IT service
provider ranked among the Top 5 players
in India’s dynamic IT sector. The company
is a specialist in digital transformation,
consulting, systems integration, and
business re-engineering solutions. A
USD 3.2 billion company with 92,000+
professionals across 51 countries, Tech
Mahindra provides services to 632
global customers including Fortune 500
companies.
In the Philippines, Tech Mahindra is
exploring, with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
and SMART Enterprise, opportunities
centered on Enterprise Wireless Services,
which include mobile and machine-tomachine (M2M) solutions.
“Our role in this partnership is
two-pronged: first, as systems integrator,
leveraging and enabling diversified and
tailor-fit technology solutions and the
ecosystem for ICT service offerings,”
Mr. Shanmugakumar said. This includes
SMART Enterprise offerings in voice,
broadband, and M2M services for
enterprises.
The other hat worn by Tech Mahindra
is as a joint, go-to-market partner of
PLDT and SMART. “We have been
engaged in business transformation and
consulting projects in the communications
industry for many years. We leverage our
unique insights with technical know-how
to help streamline, complement, and
enhance PLDT’s service offerings around
mobility, M2M, cloud, and out-of-the-box
solutions, among others,” he said.
“We are keen on this technology
transformation, which we believe could be
highly adaptive in the years to come. This,
coupled with our vast implementation
experience, enables us to become part of
a results-oriented business’ transformation
journey.”
OCT 2014
“We are in the business
of helping other business
achieve efficiencies not only
today but even many years
down the road.”
A Connected World:
Sharing a Vision with PLDT and SMART
Where once it was seen mainly as an
“enabler”, ICT has become THE critical
tool in doing business – if one wants to do
it right, smart, on budget, and on time.
“Access to information has been one
of the drivers of IT adoption,” he noted,
sharing that Tech Mahindra is governed
by a strong set of market guidelines and
value system to make sure that high impact
solutions are readily available in the market.
Tech Mahindra is focused on
providing this, and much more.
In the Philippines, there is growing
clamor for ICT solutions that connect
enterprises to increasingly mobile and
peripatetic customers. The cloud’s
emerging roles as integrated solution
platform and an ultra-accessible innovation
channel is fast gaining traction.
“(But) there is so much more we can
do. We want to revolutionize the way (endusers and businesses) value ICT, and how it
can truly help,” he said.
Tech Mahindra is focused on creating
“connected solutions” that define a
“connected world”. It shares this vision
with PLDT, SMART, and other technology
players in an ICT-awareness campaign
called the “Internet of Everything”.
“We are Moving All to Innovation”
The Internet of Everything (IoE)
consortium is a select group of industry
"The emergence of Internet, mobility,
social media, and networking have erased
physical boundaries. We are a virtual
colony," says Tech Mahindra Philippines
Country Manager Bala Shanmugakumar.
leaders and technical partners formed to
collaborate on creating M2M solutions that
will empower business through systems
intelligence and interconnectivity.
Mr. Shanmugakumar shared that as
one of the founding members of the
consortium, Tech Mahindra is focused on
crafting Internet-powered solutions that
will help enterprises remain competitive.
“We invest heavily in R&D to fast-track
innovation – backed, of course, by hard
data and statistics,” he added.
In fact, innovations around ICT have
been so robust that they have broken
through the business sphere, and have
begun to affect people’s lives. For instance,
in India, Tech Mahindra’s IT solution
is used to enhance safety for women.
Called “Fight Back”, this technology
allows women to alert the police when
their safety is threatened. “Indeed, ICT
innovations are now actually helping
improve even our socio-economic fabric,”
Mr. Shanmugakumar declared.
Touchpoints for the Future
Providing ICT solutions is obviously
not an end to itself. When a customer uses
an IT solution or service, that ICT solution
becomes a part of the customer’s evolving
ecosystem and value chain.
“We are in the business of helping
other business achieve efficiencies not
only today but even many years down the
road. We must not lose focus on the nextgeneration enterprise and consumers. We
must constantly innovate and imagine how
else we can improve ourselves.”
With PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and
SMART Enterprise and Tech Mahindra
(and the entire IoE consortium) driving the
Philippines ICT sector, local enterprises,
businesses, and eventually consumers
can expect a technology-driven enhanced
quality of lives.
OCT 2014
RELENTLESS IN
TRANSFORMING
BUSINESS
Infosys continues on building tomorrow's
enterprise through its key partnership
with SMART Enterprise
In 1981, seven engineers started Infosys Limited
with just USD250. It has grown into a global
company with revenues of USD8.25 billion in
FY14 and 160,000+ employees.
From the beginning, the company was founded on
the principle of building and implementing great ideas
that drive progress for clients and enhance lives through
enterprise solutions. Over three decades, Infosys has
been enabling businesses in more than 30 countries
to reap the benefits of technology, stay ahead of the
innovation curve, and outperform the competition.
OCT 2014
It accomplishes this by providing enterprises
with strategic insights into their industry and operating
environments. It also offers strategic consulting,
operational leadership, and the co-creation of
breakthrough solutions in mobility, sustainability,
big data, and cloud computing.
OCT 2014
“We wanted to learn from
them, transform ourselves
to further transform our
customers. Virtually, create a
cycle of mutual transformation
and innovation.”
The Strategy and Rationale Behind
Infosys’ Philippine Operations
“We see the Philippines as one of the
fastest growing economies in Asia,” says
Infosys EVP and Head of Growth Market
Unit Dheeshjith V.G. As such, Infosys
aims to bring the learning of best practices
in business, processes, and technologies
to fast-track the growth plans of key
Philippine enterprises.
“We are relentless in pursuing
innovations to help local businesses
transform,” he shares.
Infosys’ strategy has three phases:
1) Setting up and leveraging the strength of
BPOs in the country by offering customer
services and gradually expanding into
new areas such as HR, legal, financial, and
accounting process to leading banking,
financial services, and insurance, telecom,
media, healthcare, and retail customers;
2) Working with local banks through a
banking solution called “Finacle” for
Customer Management, CASA, Term
Deposits, Loans, Trade Finance, Wealth
Management, e-Banking, Treasury, and so
forth. Today, 10 leading banks are using
Infosys’ solution, and; 3) Bringing the
remaining 95% of the capability portfolio
in terms of IT, engineering, and consulting
services which will help enterprises across
manufacturing, retail, energy and utilities,
and government sector.
“A Passion for Learning”
This comprehensive innovation
approach is what sets Infosys apart.
“During our core strategy formulation,
Infosys decided to focus on working with
OCT 2014
market leaders in each industry who are at
the forefront of innovation. We wanted to
learn from them, transform ourselves to
further transform our customers. Virtually,
create a cycle of mutual transformation
and innovation,” Dheeshjith says. This has
resulted in deep, long-term relationships
with customers and the generation of new
business at a faster pace.
“Today, we can proudly say that we
get more than 95% repeat business and
generate new business at a very fast pace,”
Dheeshjith shares.
Furthermore, Infosys established one
of the largest corporate universities in the
world, concurrently training more than
15,000+ people. “We therefore are able
to provide customers with highly-trained
and productive people,” he says proudly.
This continuous learning enables Infosys
to stay ahead of the technology adoption
curve, which is extremely critical given that
technology changes at a dizzying pace.
Notably, Infosys has a Centre of
Excellence (CoE) for each of the areas that
are growing in importance nowadays, such
as Big Data, M2M, and Mobility. The CoE
produces innovative solutions, business
models, and best practices.
A Strong Partnership
The relationship with PLDT started
when Infosys set up its BPO operations.
“PLDT provided connectivity solutions
which we continue to use,” he noted.
This relationship grew by integrating
Infosys’ applications capabilities with
SMART Enterprise. “Strategically, this
relationship grew when we signed a
The 2015 ASEAN Economic Integration
will bring about new business models.
Infosys’ relentless innovation will help
businesses transform so they can
capitalize on opportunities.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with SMART Enterprise to develop new
industry solutions in the areas of machineto-machine (M2M) communication and
Internet of Everything (IoE),” he says.
In fact, Infosys is one of the founding
members of the IoE consortium in the
Philippines.
“We chose to partner with PLDT
and SMART because of their leadership
position in the Philippine market, its
world-class data centre facilities and, most
importantly, their people who have always
provided excellent cooperation when
needed, and have gone the extra mile to
ensure that our business flourishes,”
he says.
By leveraging the relationship with
SMART Enterprise and its local presence
and strengths, Infosys has created a
synergy that will enable it to offer global
capabilities to local customers and help
them get ready for a tech-intensive future.
“With the growing economy and
transforming enterprises, we are confident
of helping our customers with relentless
innovation to capitalize on future
opportunities.”
OCT 2014
Y
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
Were OU
There
2
5
1
ON THE VERGE OF TOMORROW
PLDT GROUP LAUNCHES NEW SMART M2M
SOLUTIONS LEADING TO OUR INTERNET OF
EVERYTHING (IOE) FUTURE
The palatial Rizal Ballroom of the
Makati Shangri-La was transformed into
a setting that was truly more than meets
the eye as SMART Enterprise launched
its latest set of machine-to-machine
(M2M) solutions, namely SMART M2M
Workforce, SMART M2M PowerForm,
SMART M2M Health: Mobile ECG, and
SMART M2M Health: Remote Fetal Care.
The beautiful Kim Jones served as the
night’s host in tandem with “Smartron”,
a thundering electronic voice who
guided everyone through the evening’s
program. The Team Vibe dance crew, as
well as performance artist JB dela Cruz
(aka the “Laserman of the Philippines”)
served as the evening’s entertainment.
Guests also got their chance to pose with
cosplayer robots, serving as a convincing
backdrop for the evening’s tech-inspired
extravaganza. Throughout the night,
OCT 2014
everybody tried numerous SMART M2M
solutions up close at the demo booths.
Each one was an intriguing display,
especially SMART M2M Health: Mobile
ECG with some guests checking out their
heart rates using the device.
In addition to launching SMART
M2M’s newest solutions, the night also
served as the inauguration of the first
Philippine Internet of Everything (IoE)
Consortium, consisting of leaders from
different industries, academe, government,
OEDM partners, as well as the PLDT
Group. The IoE Consortium’s function is
to define industry-specific needs, develop
comprehensive solutions, enhance and
evolve existing solutions for business
maximization, promote synergy across
members, and monitor upcoming trends
in the IoE space. Leading the ceremonial
toast with the rest of the consortium’s
founding members was PLDT and
SMART President and Chief Executive
Officer Napoleon Nazareno. “Here’s to
an IoE-enabled future, made possible by
the founding members of the first IoE
consortium in the Philippines. We are very
grateful for the pioneering spirit of our
partners,” he said.
At the end of the evening, guests
each received a pair of exclusive IMAX
movie passes for Transformers: Age of
Extinction. Some were also extra lucky
in winning the latest Samsung gadgets
through the electronic raffle portion.
It was a truly remarkable night for
everyone who attended. Not only was
it the beginning of a new and improved
SMART M2M solutions portfolio, but
it was also the historical beginning of a
transformative technological movement
that will bring Philippine business to
new heights.
3
1.
PLDT and SMART President and CEO Napoleon
L. Nazareno leads the ceremonial toast with the
rest of the IoE Consortium founding members.
2.
Orlando B. Vea, Napoleon L. Nazareno,
Ian Wilson, and Jay Lagdameo
3.
Mitch Locsin, Toto Magsuci, Jojo Uligan,
and Vic Tria
4.
The captivating Kim Jones, as host, introduced
the night’s numerous speakers and entertainers.
5.
Jovy Hernandez delivers the night’s
opening remarks.
6.
Chet Alviz gave guests a very insightful overview
of SMART’s various M2M solutions.
7.
Jojo Gendrano, Gianni Gonzales, and Elmer Beloy
8.
Luz Moleje, Eliza Zamora, and Lorraine Reyes
9.
Guests indulged themselves with cocktails as
the night went on.
4
7
10. Guests were mesmerized with Team Vibe’s
amazing dance performance.
6
8
9
10
OCT 2014
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
11. Juan Antonio Andres III, Rissa Chebat, Fay Ocampo,
and Jovy Hernandez
12. Catalino Marius Guingon, Jude Tiongco, Precy Katigbak,
and Joyce Basilio-Ramos
13. A special message from PLDT Executive Vice President
and ePLDT President and CEO Eric R. Alberto is played
on-screen.
11 12
14. At the event, attendees were given an exclusive
glimpse of the SMART Enterprise M2M Health Mobile ECG in action.
15. Napoleon L. Nazareno joins other attendees in
checking out several live demos of the different
SMART M2M solutions.
16. Richard Echon, Ed Dajao, and Heintje Rey Ferrer
17. Lito Azores, Ben Bungey, Stephen Ly, Judith Antaran,
and Ryan Robles
18. John Gonzales and Kyle Landicho
BRINGING BOHOL TO THE NEXT LEVEL
13
19. Kent de la Calzada and Mario Antonio Lim
20. Edna Anicete and Jarvis Muyargas
PLDT ACCELERATES BOHOL’S ICT
DEVELOPMENT WITH THE DFON
EXPANSION PROJECT
21. Norman Carcellar and Josie Martinez
22. Erwin Buano and Czar Castillo
23. Boy Castañeda, Renvi Martinez, Carlo Dominguez,
Joy Hilao, Louis Meeks, Carlo Severino,
and Geoff Dominguez
24. Anand Santhanam, Jovan Barac, Sandy Roque,
Tahsin Alam, and Dheeshjith V.G.
15
14
25. Gio Abaquin awards a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
to one of the night’s many delighted winners.
26. Chet Alviz and one of the lucky raffle winners.
16
18
19
23
OCT 2014
17
20
21
24
22
25
26
By expanding its business potential
beyond tourism and agribusiness, the
Province of Bohol is also positioning
itself as one of the Philippine’s preferred
industrial hubs. In fact, the Department
of Transportation and Communications
– Information and Communications
Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) and the
Information Technology Business Process
Association of the Philippines (IBPAP)
recently recognized the capital city of
Tagbilaran as a “Next Wave City” that will
provide more outsourcing opportunities
and jobs for Boholanos.
In support of the province’s numerous
development initiatives, PLDT announced
the activation of the Bohol leg of its
Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON).
The PHP 717 million project links
Bohol to the rest of the nation via 328
kilometers of fiber optic cable. It gives the
province an added 40G capacity, and is
fully expandable to 100G. DFON Bohol
also serves as its regional loop’s third leg,
providing additional resiliency for the
southern Visayas and northern Mindanao
areas. With the uplink, Bohol businesses
can now avail of PLDT’s entire end-to-end,
world-class ICT solutions portfolio.
It was a cause of celebration for the
entire province. The network’s launch
was the culminating event of Bohol’s
month-long Sandugo festival, which
commemorated 160 years of rich cultural
and historical heritage. Numerous highranking officials from Bohol’s local
government, headed by Governor Edgar
M. Chatto, attended this momentous
occasion. Joining them were PLDT
officials, led by none other than PLDT
and SMART President and CEO
Napoleon L. Nazareno.
“On behalf of our Chairman,
Mr. Manny Pangilinan, allow me to express
our profound thanks and appreciation
to Gov. Chatto, the local governments,
and the people of Bohol for your kind
invitation to participate in the celebration
of Bohol Day,” Mr. Nazareno said during
the launch. “We are happier still for
this occasion to formally launch in your
presence the PHP 717 Million fiber optic
network project of PLDT in the province
of Bohol. ”
“This is a game changer for the people
of Bohol,” Mr. Nazareno added. “With the
completion of the PLDT fiber project, you
can really say: ‘Bohol has it all!’”
DFON BOHOL FAST FACTS
328 KM total Fiber Optic Cable (FOC) length:
177 KM of inland underground FOC
151 KM of submarine FOC
Gives the province of Bohol 40G capacity,
expandable to 100G
Also serves as the regional loop’s third leg
segment, improving the area’s network
resiliency
(From L-R): PLDT SME Community Engagement
Services Head Gabby Cui, PLDT Network Planning
Head Arvin Siena, PLDT AVP and Corporate
Relationship Business Head for VisMin Jimmy V. Chua,
PLDT VP and Corporate Relationship Management
Head Renato L. Castañeda, PLDT FVP and Head of
Enterprise, International, and Carrier Business Revenue
and Operations Group Cesar M. Enriquez, PLDT EVP
and ePLDT President & CEO Eric R. Alberto, PLDT and
SMART President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno,
Province of Bohol Governor Atty. Edgar M. Chatto,
Province of Bohol Vice Governor Dr. Concepcion O.
Lim, Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell L. Yap, First
District Board Members Dr. Cesar Tomas M. Lopez
and Atty. Abeleon R. Damalerio, Third District Provincial
Board Members Dr. Godofreda O. Tirol and Atty. Dionisio
D. Balite, and First District Provincial Member Atty.
Venzencio B. Arcamo
OCT 2014
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
2
1
3
WHEN INDUSTRY HEAVYWEIGHTS CONVERGE
INTERNET OF EVERYTHING (IOE)
FOUNDING MEMBERS CONVENE TO ALIGN
STRATEGY AND ELECT KEY OFFICERS
A veritable list of who’s who in the
industry, the academe, and the private
sector came together at the Tower Club
in Makati City, to kick-start the country’s
journey to the Internet of Everything.
Founding member-organizations
of the Internet of Everything (IoE)
consortium – a select group of industry
leaders and technical partners that
will collaborate on building machineto-machine (M2M) solutions in the
Philippines – held its first meeting to elect
the officers responsible for steering IoE’s
direction and initiatives.
The event also served as an initial
exchange of ideas on the strategy as well
as projected results of this endeavor
(see related story in MoBiz, page 70).
OCT 2014
Breaking Down Silos
In his welcome address, PLDT FVP
and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
and SMART Enterprise Sales and
Marketing Jovy Hernandez said, “The
technological innovations are there. Our
growth and potential, as an economy, are
limited by the fact that we, unfortunately,
work in silos. We are here to exchange
ideas on how we can capitalize on these
technologies.”
“The formation of IoE has drawn a
lot of attention. We have received inquiries
on how they can participate or contribute.
This is only the beginning,” Mr. Hernandez
continued.
How We Think Changes with IoE
Rajiv Niles, Director of IoE
Innovation Platforms in Cisco, who
graced the event as keynote speaker,
shared Cisco’s perspective on IoE. “We
are in the third wave of the Internet: from
fixed computing in 1995, to mobility and
BYOD in 2000, and now the Internet
of Everything.” He explained that
“everything” refers to process, data, things
(e.g. mobile phones) and people.
“IoE goes beyond installing
broadband to the home, so citizens can
access Google and YouTube. We are
talking about putting Internet technologies
at the centre of how we plan our cities,
healthcare, transportation, entertainment,
and our lives.”
IoE is estimated to become a USD50billion market by 2020, according to
Mr. Niles. With the IoE consortium in
place, the Philippines has taken the first
important step towards ensuring that local
enterprises are ready for a hyper-connected
eventuality.
6
4
1.
The first-ever meeting of the Philippine Internet
of Everything consortium was attended by
majority of its founding members.
2.
The 2014-2015 elected Philippine IoE
Consortium Board of Directors (L to R): Meralco
Head of Strategy and Innovation Dr. Engr.
Bartosz Wojszczyk, Cormant Technologies
CEO Ian Wilson, Concepcion-Carrier Air
Conditioning Company ICT Director Sean Byrne,
UP Professor of Computer Science Dr. Jaime
Caro, Cisco Philippines Country Manager Louie
Castañeda, eScience CEO Ricky Dagelet, PLDT
FVP and PIoE Vice Chairman Jovy Hernandez,
SEIPI President and PIoE Chairman Dan
Lachica, and BDO Consumer Lending Group
– Merchant Acquiring Services Vice President
Gilbert Ramos.
3-5. Founding members electronically key
in their votes for board members.
6.
Cisco IoE Innovation Platforms Director
Rajiv Niles delivering his keynote address
on the Internet of Everything.
7.
The PIoEC founding members led by their newly
elected Chairman Dan Lachica (4th from right)
and Vice-Chairman Jovy Hernandez (5th from
right) together with SMART executives at the
first meeting.
5
7
OCT 2014
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
1
CIOS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE AND THE
ASIA CEO FORUM EMPOWER PHILIPPINE
ENTERPRISES AT THE ASIA ICT SUMMIT
One of the most anticipated regular
business events in the Philippines, the Asia
CEO Forum, presented by PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise, recently concluded another of
its specialized summits, this time focusing
on the needs of today’s CIOs. Held at
the Dusit Hotel in Makati, the Asia ICT
Summit was attended by a number of
C-Level executives, as well as IT managers
from the country’s biggest organizationsall eager to learn ICT-centric insights and
the latest best practices for the benefit of
their businesses.
Headlining the Asia ICT Summit was
Raghu Ranganathan, MEF Director and
Co-chair of the Technical Committee
and Ciena Office of the CTO Senior
OCT 2014
1.
PLDT AVP and Head of Corporate
Business Solutions Nico Alcoseba
(5th from left) takes part in a panel
discussion on the latest ICT trends
in the country.
2.
Mr. Alcoseba answers a question
from the audience.
3.
PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise Jovy Hernandez talks about
his own take on the “80-20” rule.
4.
Attendees comprising of CIOs and
IT executives across various industries
listen to the various insights provided
by the speakers.
5.
Advisor of Network Architecture. In
his keynote presentation, he shared
how data consumption for business has
radically changed with richer content
and cloud-based applications. Following
Mr. Ranganathan was PLDT FVP and
Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy
Hernandez who shared how new ICT
solutions, such as the cloud, enable CIOs
to swing their resources from simply
running and maintaining infrastructure
into becoming a source of guidance and
leadership for the entire organization.
Other notable individuals also shared
their insights during this day-long summit:
SHORE Solutions’ Andrew Leonard,
Cognizant’s AJ Raghuraman, Meralco’s
Bartosz Wojszczyk, Sitel’s Dante Casimiro,
SAP Philippines’ Darren Rushworth,
NEC’s David Adis, Philippine Software
Industry Association’s Joey Gurangco, AIG
Philippines’ Mark Lwen, ADEC Group’s
Scott Darrow, Ascentia Consulting’s Sean
Cannon, Accenture’s Shobit Dubey, and
DTI-MSG Undersecretary Noya Terrando.
Attendees received new perspectives on
ICT strategies, which will undoubtedly
benefit their businesses in the long run.
“In behalf of PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise and the Asia CEO Forum, I
would like to thank both our speakers and
our attendees for making the Asia ICT
Summit possible,” says Mr. Hernandez.
“We believe in the power of insight. We
hope that this event marks the beginning
of a reshaped Philippine ICT landscape,
with businesses truly geared towards
regional and global success.”
2
3
Mr. Jovy Hernandez, Ciena Country
Head of the Philippines Faith Flores,
MEF Director and Co-chair of the
Technical Committee and Ciena Office
of the CTO Senior Adviser of Network
Architecture Raghu Ranganathan,
and Mr. Nico Alcoseba
4
5
OCT 2014
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
3
1
TO THE INTERNET OF EVERYTHING AND BEYOND
SMART ENTERPRISE HOSTS LOCAL
DEVELOPERS AT THE COUNTRY’S
FIRST-EVER SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
CONFERENCE WITH A RINGSIDE SEAT TO
THE UNFOLDING M2M REVOLUTION
Scores of software, hardware, and
ICT professionals, together with key
representatives from government agencies
and businesses, convened at the SMX
Convention Center of SM Aura, Taguig
for the country’s first-ever software
engineering conference: SOFTECH.PH.
This whole-day event was organized by the
Philippine Software Industry Association
(PSIA) together with the Information
and Communications Technology Office
(ICTO) of the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). Local developers
examined the latest strategies and best
practices for capitalizing on the inevitable
arrival of the Internet of Everything (IoE)
across three distinct learning tracks: Agile,
Tools, and Architecture.
As a platinum sponsor, SMART
Enterprise fielded Enterprise Product
Manager for M2M and Enterprise Mobility
Gio Abaquin as one of the day’s speakers.
He shared insights on IoE, machine-tomachine (M2M) solutions, and ways in
which the Philippine software industry can
capitalize on an increasingly interconnected
OCT 2014
world. The concept of IoE, much like
other notable technological trends, shows
itself in science fiction– noting “early
adopters of today’s technology,” such as
spy extraordinaire James Bond, Star Trek’s
Captain Kirk, and Knight Rider’s Michael
Knight. In science fact, there was a historic
evolution of personal interaction with
devices. According to him, the device was
the destination and was not yet a major
part of everyday life during the 80s and the
90s, citing bulky desktop PCs and ATMs
as examples. In a decade’s time, solutions
became more accessible and available with
mobile phones and PDAs. Today, multiple
devices are able to interconnect and interact
seamlessly.
“Experts predict the Internet of
Everything will be upon us by 2020,” Mr.
Abaquin added. “Everything– including
transportation and cities—will be
interconnected. IoE brings closer interaction
between people, things, and data to a
whole new level. The right information
goes to the right person at the right time.
This essential fusion of connected devices
sharing more data than ever before– and the
people accessing them, would bring forth an
unprecedented change on how people live,
communicate, and run their businesses.”
Changing the Game Completely
Mr. Abaquin explained IoE’s impact on
the software development industry. “It will
change the game completely,” he said. “With
2
more devices and applications, you’ll need
more support mechanisms and channels.
Customers will be more demanding, as
their usage and even their dependence on
connected devices and applications will
become more apparent than ever. This
app-centric lifestyle has started years ago,
and is apparent even now, with each game
or productivity app that we download into
our smartphones and tablets. Hence, it is
important for the software industry to retool
and reinforce their support structures, as
well as consider the great role that data
connectivity plays in how their software
sends and receives critical information.”
In his conclusion, Mr. Abaquin
encouraged developers to continue to create
IoE-based applications and solutions for
enterprises. “Businesses need innovative
developers now more than ever,” he said.
“Let us join together in helping improve
and enhance businesses not just here in the
Philippines, but even globally.”
“We would like to thank the PSIA
for giving us the opportunity to share our
insights on the Internet of Everything,”
SMART AVP and SMART-SUN Enterprise
Marketing and Project Management Head
Chet Alviz said. “We believe in the talents
of our local developers. SMART Enterprise
is more than willing to help the industry
in creating innovative solutions that will
positively impact businesses and
consumers alike.”
1.
Rappler’s Russel Shepperd delivers the
keynote address.
6.
Participants attentively listen at one of the
SOFTECH.PH speakers.
2.
Gio Abaquin shares with the attendees SMART’s
overall M2M and IoE strategy.
7.
Mr. Abaquin answers some of the participants’
questions on SMART’s M2M capabilities.
3.
Representatives from SMART Enterprise.
8.
4.
Mr. Abaquin with Philippine Software Industry
Association (PSIA) President Joey Gurango.
Other participants also got to learn more about
the other solution offerings of PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise and SMART Enterprise at the
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise booth.
5.
Gio Abaquin, joined by fellow SMART executives,
smiles for the camera.
4
5
6
7
8
OCT 2014
WERE YOU THERE
WERE YOU THERE
1
TOWARDS CLOUD-POWERED PHILIPPINE ENTERPRISES
PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS
EXPERIENCE CLOUD SOLUTIONS FIRSTHAND THROUGH THE PLDT CLOUD
BOOT CAMP SERIES
Early this year, PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise unveiled its expanded PLDT
Cloud portfolio during an aerospacethemed “PLDT Cloud Flight Academy”
event, the kick-off of a yearlong campaign
to increase the enterprise market’s
understanding of the cloud and how it
optimizes operations in a cost-efficient
manner. Building on the ensuing
momentum, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s
Cloud Boot Camp, held at the PLDT
Innolab Training Center in Mandaluyong
City, gave ALPHA customers a deeper
appreciation of how cloud technology can
benefit their businesses.
Offered for free exclusively to PLDT
OCT 2014
ALPHA Enterprise customers, the
boot camp featured specialized sessions
on cloud technology. It also featured
live demonstrations of PLDT Cloud’s
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS
(Platform as a Service), and SaaS (Software
as a Service) Microsoft Office 365. It
was jointly facilitated by PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise product team as well as cloud
experts from technology partners.
Attendees got to personally experience
the PLDT Cloud solutions straight from
their own laptops or through desktop
workstations on site. The sessions were
well received; participants were amazed
at being able to try out the solutions
by themselves. Later, certificates of
completion were given to participants
attesting to their enhanced cloud
knowledge. As a special highlight, a
raffle draw with prizes from PLDT
and Microsoft were awarded to lucky
participants.
“This year, more than ever, it is our
desire to see a cloud-powered Philippine
enterprise,” says PLDT FVP and Head
of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy
Hernandez. “Through these PLDT
Cloud Boot Camp events, we hope that
more organizations seriously consider
implementing agile and cost-efficient
cloud-based solutions that will allow
them to focus more on their core business
functions, enabling innovation that was
not possible before.”
1.
PLDT Cloud Boot Camp participants pose with
their certificates of completion. They are joined by
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise product managers as well
as their technology partners.
2.
Participants try out various PLDT Cloud solutions
after the lecture portion of the session.
3.
Microsoft’s Kent Macatangay shares his insights
during “Moving Your Business to the Cloud”
keynote presentation.
4.
Leading each session were PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise Product Managers Leslie Bayona,
Kate Tampico, and Francis Arjonillo.
5.
One of the Cloud Boot Camp sessions was
Sandz Solutions’ Henry Velasco’s presentation,
titled “Cloud Back-Up Economics”.
6.
Participants attentively listen to the presentation
given by PLDT’s Cloud technology partners.
7.
Pointwest Technologies Corporation’s Reginald
Bondoc and PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager
Juzi Tan
8.
PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Rosemarie
Ocana and HTech Corporation’s Daniel Torres
9.
Global Business Power Corporation’s Roly Gambol
and PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager
Kat Tangonan
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
9
10. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Jun
Tacneng and Vishay Philippines, Inc.’s
Segundo Nuguid
11. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager
Amy Ang and Macondray Finance
Corporation’s Harold Sanchez
OCT 2014
FULLY
UTO MATIC
SMART Enterprise and eScience collaborate in
providing paperless M2M-based solutions to
automate specific industry processes
OCT 2014
One might say that machine-to-machine (M2M)
innovation has always been in the eScience DNA.
The company began operations in 2000, developing
mobile solutions to automate fielded workforce
operations (companies in dispersed locations).
These solutions allowed them to gather and
process data in a paperless fashion.
OCT 2014
A
As key aspects of mobile technology
(devices, network, applications) rapidly
evolved together with more availability and
use, eScience created richer and more costeffective solutions. They were offered to any
organization that could make fruitful use
of them. “If you were to deploy five years
ago what we’re doing now (M2M) on tablets
and smartphones,” shares eScience CEO
Ricky Dagelet, “it would have probably
cost around three to four times more than
present prices. Now, the devices are much
cheaper. The network is also better.”
“Without the network, it’s useless to
deploy an M2M solution,” Mr. Dagelet adds.
In completing the M2M loop, eScience
chose to partner with SMART Enterprise.
“We specialize in applications: from the
ones on tablets and smartphones to the
host systems that process the information,
including the reports and analytics needed
by the customer. SMART Enterprise, for
their part, is really good at providing the
data network that the devices need. It is
a strong partnership.”
Through this strong collaborative
partnership, eScience and SMART
Enterprise were able to create and deploy
three revolutionary M2M solutions, namely
SMART M2M Merchandising, Loyalty,
and Pharma.
Creating M2M Solutions for
Specific Industry Needs
For Mr. Dagelet, SMART Enterprise’s
M2M solutions with eScience offer the
unparalleled benefits of speed and cost.
OCT 2014
“Compared to doing it
manually, M2M will always
help an organization become
more efficient. You can get the
information at a much faster pace
and with significantly less cost.”
“Compared to doing it manually, M2M will
always help an organization become more
efficient. You can get the information at a
much faster pace and with significantly less
cost,” he says. “You also do away with the
other costs associated with paper handling
such as courier cost to send documents,
as well as the cost for data encoding,”
he added.
In addition, Mr. Dagelet noted that
their development methodology is vertical,
not horizontal in nature. One solution
simply cannot be expected to work for all
businesses. “We provide solutions that are
particularly designed for certain industries,”
he points out.
SMART M2M Merchandising facilitates
quicker and more accurate on-ground
operations for the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCG) industry. “You see a lot
of merchandisers at supermarkets refilling
the shelves, making sure they’re stocked
properly.” These merchandisers need to
constantly report to their head office on
matters such as what items are out of stock
or nearing their expiry dates, as well as what
their competitors are doing. Previously, all
this was manually and tediously done on
paper, eating up time. “You need to have
somebody deliver those forms to the head
office to be encoded. There are a lot of
opportunities lost there.”
With SMART M2M Merchandising,
this whole process is completely automated
by using eScience’s applications on
smartphones and tablets, connected to
SMART’s network. “If I’m out of stock
of a particular toothpaste, my head office
will know that right away so they can make
a delivery,” he says. “Before, on paperbased systems, it’ll take two weeks.” The
solution gives FMCGs real time inventory
feedback, and also richer information that
was not available using manual methods.
For example, merchandisers can use
their smartphones and the application to
take and send pictures of the shelves to
illustrate or document inadequate stocking
levels.
Nowadays, even small and medium
enterprises (SME) are implementing
customer loyalty programs for customer
retention, as well as to glean deeper
understanding of purchase behaviors.
However, to properly implement such a
program, one would need specialized pointof-sale (POS) equipment and software,
which may be too costly for
some organizations.
SMART M2M Loyalty gives companies
in the service and food and beverage
industries an easy-to-deploy loyalty
program, requiring only tablet devices to
work. Customers merely use a small paper
card that contains a quick response (QR)
OCT 2014
SMART M2M MERCHANDISING FEATURES
Merchandisers can input information
such as out of stock items, items that
are set to expire, offtake (sales data),
and current inventory.
code as their primary customer identifier.
Using the tablet’s camera, the QR code is
scanned in order to access the customer’s
electronic profile. From there, information
such as loyalty points based upon the
customer’s purchases is easily encoded. The
solution automatically stores information
and awards customer incentives based on
their existing loyalty points.
The pharmaceutical industry has a
unique sales structure mainly centered on
the relationship between doctors and its
medical sales representatives (or Medreps).
These Medreps constantly visit doctors and
provide them product literature as well as
samples. “Once in a while, the Medreps
would have to file a report: how many
doctors they’ve visited, how many samples
they’ve given out, what was the feedback
on a particular product,” says Mr. Dagelet.
“All these were handwritten and sent to the
head office for analytics purposes.”
SMART M2M Pharma again does
away with the slow, paper-based method
of handling pharmaceutical sales calls.
Medreps can instantly record the status
of each sales call, logging all necessary
OCT 2014
Merchandisers can take photos
of shelves to show the head office
that items are properly stocked.
information. “At the end of each sales
call, the doctor needs to acknowledge the
visit,” says Mr. Dagelet. “They can do so
by affixing their signature straight on the
tablet.”
SMART M2M Pharma is also locationaware. Sales call reports are tagged with
GPS coordinates to confirm sales calls
within the physical confines of a particular
hospital. In fact, some now use the
location-aware feature of the solution to
“time in” at a particular time of the day
directly at their first sales call location rather
than the old method of personally timing in
at the head office first before heading out
to conduct sales calls.
Smarter Insights for Smarter Businesses
Beyond the automated and paperless
ideals espoused by M2M, Mr. Dagelet
proudly points to the ability of their
solutions to provide intelligent analytics and
truly helpful insights. “Our M2M solutions
does not just capture the data and give it
to the client. That’s irrelevant. That’s not
useful to them,” he says. “What we do is
SMART M2M PHARMA FEATURES
Merchandising information are
sent in real time to the head office,
allowing them to quickly deliver
new stock if needed.
to make sure that the information that
the CEO receives from us is something
they can act on– something that is useful
to them– in a format that they can really
understand.”
The tide is high for eScience as M2M
becomes a more appealing option for
companies. “In the future, all companies
who have some sort of field personnel or
customers who need to communicate with
the company should go M2M,” he says.
And as the technology becomes even more
reasonably priced, he predicts that M2M
will be widely adopted in the Philippines
and across the globe.
Their strong partnership with SMART
Enterprise may eventually make this a
reality sooner rather than later.
Gives Medreps a paperless method
of encoding particular information
gained during a sales call.
At the conclusion of the sales call,
the doctors affix their signature
directly on the tablet.
Location based feature allows sales
call reports to be paired with GPS
coordinates to ensure that calls
are done within the hospital.
SMART M2M LOYALTY FEATURES
The solution is hosted inside a tablet,
allowing an entrepreneur to launch a
customer loyalty program without the
need for specialized equipment.
Each customer is provided a card
with a quick response (QR) code
as his or her unique identifier.
The QR code is scanned via the
tablet’s camera to pop-up a
customer’s profile. Here companies
can input purchase information
and loyalty points.
OCT 2014
THEM2M MAVERICKS
Cormant and SMART Enterprise share
a common pioneering legacy in M2M
C
Cormant is evidently a fun and
exciting place to work, judging from
the youthful energy that fills every
room of its 10-year old headquarters
at Bonifacio Global City.
It may be this energy behind
Cormant’s key role as a maverick in
the idea of machine-to-machine (M2M)
solutions. Created in 2001, Cormant
was set up to develop CableSolved, a
Data Center Infrastructure Management
Software solution to monitor “elements in
the data center”.
Cormant CEO Ian Wilson, a
polite and gracious Englishman from
Nottingham, describes the Cormant journey
into M2M as something that was mindfully
thought out. It took key insights into future
technology and market developments to
seal Cormant’s position. Cormant was
soon “looking ahead” in this regard, and
indications were strong that the future lay
in mobile. “Legacy scanners (and POS
devices) were really just more expensive
smartphones,” he adds. And smartphones
were essentially built as a multi-input device
that would soon be in the hands of nearly
everyone as prices tumbled.
OCT 2014
SMART M2M is Expanding
Today, smartphones easily command
just a quarter of their prices half a decade
ago. “You can get affordable smartphones
today for as little as 3 to 4 thousand pesos,”
he said.
It was the growing availability of
smartphones that powered the argument
behind Cormant’s M2M solutions for
SMART: Credit, WorkForce, and recently
PowerForm.
“SMART M2M PowerForm essentially
triggers a workflow,” says Mr. Wilson. The
latest SMART M2M offering captures field
data through a smartphone or smart device.
Usually this information is inputted with the
help of a potential customer, and it includes
basic information such as name, address,
and email.
Mr. Wilson offers a banking industry
scenario, with loan applications processed
quickly. “Banks can sign up customers
in a mall who enter or fill out certain
alphanumeric fields. IDs (such as driver’s
license scans) and signatures are captured,
and these start the ball rolling for loan or
credit card applications.”
One of the best things about
PowerForm is its ease of customization.
Businesses can create their own digital forms
according to their specific needs. And these
forms are modified instantly, as opposed to
the old days of print wherein an entirely new
production run had to be initiated for every
small change.
There is also the real-time nature of
PowerForm, which Mr. Wilson finds so
compelling to businesses. “You could have
a sales agent in a mall doing activity on one
form and new forms can be sent to him
directly. No more having to go back to the
office to physically get new forms.”
Of course all this leads to better
management control since it yields better
real-time information. “Encoding has
almost been removed entirely,” Mr. Wilson
adds. “So you have faster completion, with
no cost of encoding. That’s informational
productivity.”
Shared Vision and Leadership in M2M
Mr. Wilson is a proud partner to
SMART Enterprise in developing these
M2M solutions, mainly because of their
shared history at the forefront of M2M.
“SMART was one of the earliest pioneers
in M2M through SMART Money, an idea
clearly ahead of its time. It demonstrated
SMART’s leadership in the whole area of
money transfer and M2M.”
This thinking ahead of the curve
extends to PLDT ALPHA Enterprise as well
throughout the PLDT Group. “They have
always had that forward thinking approach
to business both in corporate and retail
areas. They have foreseen the growth of
M2M and Internet of Things as it grows
into the Internet of Everything. PLDT
is a natural choice for a telco that shares
our vision.”
The power of strong partnerships
and potentials of M2M has a believer
in Ian Wilson.
OCT 2014
A SALES FORCE IN YOUR
IPC, Salesforce.com, and SMART Enterprise take CRM
excellence to mobile level with SMART M2M Sales
Ten years ago, a day in the life of a sales agent went something like this:
he juggled sales calls from multiple contacts at multiple locations, each with
unique objectives; shared time between a computer, a mobile phone, plus maybe
a good old little black book just to organize information and plan the day ahead.
As for sales managers, they simply did not have instantaneous access to current
sales performance. Instead, they would have to wait for incoming reports and
endlessly sift over mountains of data for usable insights.
For over fifteen years, Salesforce.com
has been the definitive customer
relationship management (CRM)
solution. It has given companies the
capability to listen for, document,
and act upon valuable customer
feedback– all on the cloud. It can be
said that Salesforce.com has improved
customer connections with a true 1:1
experience. “For a company to thrive
these days, CEOs, COOs, and CMOs
need to listen to what their customers
are saying,” says IP Converge Data
Services, Inc. (IPC) President Rene
Huergas. “Salesforce.com has given
companies the opportunity to be a
truly customer-connected company in
a world of switched-on consumers.”
A member of the ePLDT group,
IPC has maintained a very fruitful
partnership with Salesforce.com
since 2007, becoming the first and
only Gold Cloud Alliance Partner in
the country as well as winning the
ASEAN Partner of the Year award in
2009 and 2010. Last year, IPC began a
collaboration with SMART Enterprise
to bring the best of Salesforce.com
to a smartphone or tablet with the
SMART M2M Sales solution.
With the advent of Salesforce.com, everything has changed.
OCT 2014
OCT 2014
Schedule and view
appointments
With SMART M2M Sales,
you have access to all relevant
information about the account,
anytime, anywhere on a
single device.”
Easily broadcast status
of an account
Receive instantaneous updates
on marketing campaigns
SMART M2M SALES FEATURES
Bringing Salesforce.com On the Go
Just like other SMART M2M iterations,
SMART M2M Sales is an end-to-end
solutions package synergizing the latest
mobile devices, world-class applications, and
SMART’s Nationwidest network coverage
to effectively deliver a full-fledged CRM
experience on a mobile platform. Essentially,
SMART M2M Sales gives a company’s sales
team the ability to work effectively from any
location via a smartphone or a tablet.
“Imagine being able to check your
customer’s contract details, purchase history,
pending orders, and concerns while you are
in the cab on the way to a meeting,” says Mr.
Huergas. “With SMART M2M Sales, you
have access to all relevant information about
the account, anytime, anywhere on a single
device. Sales personnel working in their areas
of assignments can also update customer
records anytime, anywhere even as they
negotiate heavy traffic on the way back
to the office.”
OCT 2014
Organizations with large fielded sales
teams have much to gain with SMART
M2M Sales. Sales representatives can work
on administrative tasks securely while out in
the field. On the management level, SMART
M2M Sales gives business unit heads
real-time information on team pipelines,
eventually drilling down to individual team
member performances.
“We have clients who started using
SMART M2M Sales for just one business
unit. They were so happy with it that they
now want to roll it out to their subsidiaries,”
says Mr. Huergas. “Their sales teams’
productivity has increased over the months
because they can focus on taking care of
their accounts better.”
On IoE and the Cloud
“It is exciting whenever the Internet of
Everything is brought up. It will be amazing
to live in a world where you can basically
interact with the things around you,” declares
Mr. Huergas. He said Salesforce.com has
begun making strides in the IoE space. For
example, a leading Japanese car manufacturer
created a mobile app that automatically
notifies the driver on the car’s mileage and if
it needs to undergo maintenance – essentially
letting the vehicle ‘talk’ to the driver.
For Mr. Huergas, leveraging the power of
the cloud through IPC’s unique partnership
with Salesforce.com and SMART Enterprise
is pivotal in making IoE a reality. “IPC has
always been an advocate of the cloud and
what it can do to create better lives,” he says.
“Being the only Salesforce.com Gold
Cloud Alliance Partner in the country, we
can develop end-to-end solutions on the
Salesforce.com platform that are customized
to suit client needs. We can integrate
Salesforce.com as an intuitive information
tool with practically any system, ultimately
minimizing the gap between man and
machine.”
Access customer
insights and feedback
Easily view real-time information
on your team’s pipeline and drill
down to an individual team
member’s performance
Sales
Ex
Dashb ecutive
o a rd
Sales
E xecu
tive
D ashb
Sales
o a rd
Ex
Dashb ecutive
o a rd
Q4 Pip
eline
Q4 Pip
Q4 Pip eline
eline
OCT 2014
Page
Caught on
UNILEVER PHILIPPINES TURNS TO
SMART AND VODAFONE FOR THEIR
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NEEDS
Unilever Philippines has recently renewed
their contract with SMART Enterprise
and their global partner, Vodafone Global
Enterprise, as the exclusive wireless
telecommunications provider. Together, both
telecom giants collaborated to serve Unilever
with a customized wireless voice, SMS, and
data package in coordination with Unilever
Philippines and its parent company, Unilever
UK. To seal this partnership, a contract
signing ceremony was recently held at PLDT’s
Ramon Cojuangco Building.
PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT
ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise
Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez gave
the welcoming remarks. “We at SMART
OCT 2014
Enterprise have been so pleased to work with
Vodafone Global Enterprise in providing
Unilever with the globally-scaled, yet locallyresponsive, end-to-end wireless solutions
they need to continue their brand dominance.
And as SMART Enterprise and the entire
PLDT Group expand its worldwide operator
capabilities, we are grateful for the chance
to work with internationally established
organizations like Vodafone and Unilever.”
Stevan Hoyle, Vodafone President of
Asia and Africa, added: “Our partnership is
built on trust, on SMART and Vodafone as
equal partners. Technologically, it’s a perfect
marriage of full service operators, ideal
for servicing the needs of multinational
corporations like Unilever. On behalf of Jovy
and Vodafone, thank you for putting your
trust in us.”
“We wanted to deliver something to our
user base to create that emotional reaction
- ‘Oh my goodness, I’m delighted with this’
response. And that is what this relationship
has been about - delighting the user. And so
far, based on the feedback, we’ve succeeded.
So, thank you SMART and Vodafone, I think
we really delivered something delightful,” said
Philippines Country IT Head Michael Pilarski.
From L-R: PLDT Corporate Relationship
Manager Ann Carandang, SMART Enterprise
Senior Manager Debbie Ledesma, PLDT VP
and Corporate Relationship Management Head
Precy Katigbak, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT
ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise
Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez, Unilever
IT Country Head Michael Pilarski, Unilever IT
Manager-Directly Consumed Services Martin
Gurion, Vodafone Regional Sales Director
Yvonne Ng, and Vodafone President of Asia
and Africa Stevan Hoyle
PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE AND
MACONDRAY FINANCE CORPORATION:
PARTNERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE
FINANCIAL SECTOR
Since the company’s inception, Macondray
Finance Corporation has been ably supported
by the quality ICT solutions of PLDT and
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. Their partnership
spans a history of past landline and mobile
offerings all the way to today’s Internet
connectivity via DSL and SMART Broadband.
Started in 1991 as a wholly owned affiliate
of Macondray Philippines, Macondray Finance
Corporation offers specialized retail financial
services for seafarers, OFWs, and pensioners.
It currently operates ten national branches,
with seven in the Mindanao area (General
Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Polomok, Iligan,
Cagayan de Oro, and Butuan). PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise’s solutions enable Macondray
Finance Corporation to continuously provide
the highest quality of service, ensuring that
customer’s loan applications are quickly
processed and approved.
Speaking on behalf of Macondray
Finance Corporation, General Manager Lui
Joson praised PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
for providing their branch networks with
consistently high-speed data interconnections to
enhance their all-around service quality. “PLDT
ALPHA Enterprise’s solutions are absolutely
critical for our business today, because for our
customers, fast service simply means great
service,” says Joson.
She also pointed out how PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise was able to reduce Macondray
Finance Corporation’s overall operational costs
and increase revenue generation. “Whatever
we’ve saved, we’ve already earned,” she said,
remarking on how further efficiency savings are
bound to make a substantially positive impact.
In return, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT
ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez thanked
Macondray Finance Corporation for their
patronage and the opportunity to validate the
increasingly important role of ICT solutions.
“On behalf of the entire PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise team, I thank Ms. Joson and the
rest of Macondray Finance Corporation for
their trust in us as their end-to-end expert ICT
partner. We commit to continuously provide
excellent, end-to-end solutions for Macondray
Finance as we empower them towards success
in years to come,” said Mr. Hernandez.
From L-R: Amy Ang, PLDT Corporate Relationship
Manager; Tonton Pigao, Macondray MIS Head;
Ma. Luisa Joson, Macondray Financial Corporation
General Manager; Harold Sanchez, Macondray
MIS Officer; and Marites Pornea, PLDT Capability
Management Specialist
OCT 2014
Page
Caught on
FDA TAPS SMART ENTERPRISE
TO PROVIDE M2M SOLUTIONS
PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE AND
FEU TECH WORK TOGETHER TO
COMPLETE A “MODERN MARVEL”
Far Eastern University’s Institute of
Technology (FEU Tech) is working with
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise to provide
their new 17-storey facility with full WiFi
accessibility and CCTV coverage. This
partnership was formalized in a recent
contract signing ceremony between the
two companies.
As one of the country’s premier
technological educational facilities,
FEU Tech’s new “Modern Marvel”
tower is designed to prove an optimum
and technologically-advanced learning
environment for both faculty and
students. To achieve this, they turned to
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise for an end-
OCT 2014
to-end building fit-out solution, which
includes installing 300 CCTV cameras
and fully wiring the building for WiFi
connectivity. “We chose PLDT because
they have one of the biggest networks,
and the biggest pools of expertise. The
quality and service they can provide was a
major consideration when we considered
our technology partners,” said FEU Tech
Executive Director Benson Tan.
PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT
ALPHA Enterprise and SMART
Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy
Hernandez stated that he was always
eager to collaborate with educational
institutions. “The future of the
Philippines rests on your students,” he
said. “We are very happy that you have
trusted us with this and we take pride in
partnerships with institutions like yours.”
CENTER PHOTO (From L-R): PLDT
Corporate Relationship Business Head
Ben Melasa, PLDT Relationship Manager
Al Contreras, PLDT VP and Head of
Corporate Relationship Management
Precy Katigbak, PLDT FVP and Head
of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART
Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy
Hernandez, FEU Tech Executive Director
Benson Tan, FEU Tech Senior Director for
Admin Jarvis Muyargas, and FEU Tech
Senior Director of Finance Edna Anicete
SMART Enterprise, the
corporate business arm of SMART
Communications, announced its
partnership with the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to enhance the
bureau’s on-field operations with the use
of SMART’s machine-to-machine (M2M)
solutions. With the partnership, the FDA
will deploy tablet PCs connected to
SMART’s Nationwidest network. Each
will come with a customized SMART
M2M Pocketwise+ application preinstalled.
Established in 1963, the Food and
Drug Administration is an attached
agency of the Department of Health
(DOH). Its role is to promote public
health through regulation of food,
drugs, cosmetics, devices, biologicals,
vaccines, in-vitro diagnostic reagents,
radiation-emitting devices or equipment,
and household/urban hazardous
substances, including pesticides and toys,
or consumer products that may have an
effect on health.
With the customized SMART M2M
Pocketwise+ application, FDA’s field
personnel will have an efficient and
paperless method of conducting site
inspections, which are necessary for
companies applying for FDA licenses
and clearances. Information is directly
encoded into the application via the
tablet PC. In addition, the program
allows field personnel to attach photos.
All these are sent directly to the FDA
office via SMART’s wireless data
connection for the bureau’s perusal. This
shortens the time involved for inspection
and report creation, reducing the
turnaround time for license applications.
“With this solution, consumers can
trust the quality of our work. We cannot
do this without the partnership of the
private sector especially in the areas of
advanced technology. There is a lot of
potential that we can do with this simple
equipment. We are keen to embark on
this journey,” says FDA Director General
Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go.
“SMART Enterprise is very pleased
to see FDA as one of the prime movers
in terms of adopting mobile technology
for its operations. We look forward to
further partnering with the FDA in co-
developing other applications to be used
by the organization,” says PLDT FVP
and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise
and SMART Enterprise Sales and
Marketing Jovy Hernandez.
From (L-R): SMART AVP and SMART-SUN
Enterprise Marketing and Project Management
Head Chet Alviz, FDA Deputy Director General
for Field Regulatory Operations Dr. Ariel I.
Valencia, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and
Marketing Jovy Hernandez, FDA Director
General Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, PLDT VP
and Corporate Relationship Head Renato L.
Castañeda, FDA Deputy Director General for
Admin. and Finance Atty. Ronald R. De Veyra,
PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Lucy
Sy, and SMART Enterprise Segment Marketing
Specialist Caroline Orcena
OCT 2014
The fuller spectrum of ICT
PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, your trusted
expert end-to-end ICT partner
www.pldtalpha.com
88-ALPHA (25742)
As Philippine enterprise moves to compete on higher levels, PLDT ALPHA
Enterprise is there to support them from start to finish with end-to-end ICT
solutions, with full-spectrum expert support and our powerful network.
ASC Ref Code: P073P072414P
In this section, HOT JOE puts on
its Tech Forecaster hat and takes
a look at the future
COMING
TESLA ELECTRIC CAR
TECHNOLOGY FOR FREE
While electric cars from Tesla
Motors have been dominating the
news reports with their unparalleled
performance, there have been
doubts that the disruptive tech
company (which it undoubtedly is,
as much as it is an auto company)
could influence a complete shift
from fossil-fueled cars to electric
vehicles all by itself. In a shocking
move, they’ve encouraged their own
rivals to jump onto the electric car
platform by giving away the rights to
their technology. Tesla CEO, Elon
Musk, promised in June 2014 to give
away the company’s entire patent
portfolio, as long as users promised
not to engage in courtroom battles
over intellectual property.
OCT 2014
AIR OPTICAL FIBER
As of 2014, Tesla held 203
patents covering its batteries and
other key features. Another 280
patent applications are still pending.
The earliest any of Tesla’s current
patents expires is in 2026, so the
company is relinquishing a valuable
long-term advantage by giving away
its intellectual property to its rivals.
“If we clear a path to the
creation of compelling electric
vehicles, but then lay intellectual
property landmines behind us to
inhibit others, we are acting in a
manner contrary to that goal,” Musk
wrote in a Tesla Motors blog post.
Tesla is already making electric
systems for Daimler and Toyota,
and BMW spokesman Kenn
Sparks confirmed the German
auto-manufacturer is in talks for a
potential Supercharger partnership.
Currently, Tesla has about 100
Supercharger stations scattered
across North America and Europe
that give Model S drivers a free
power source when traveling long
distances, and it plans to open more
in China and Japan this year.
Wall Street seems to agree with
Tesla’s strategy: Morgan Stanley
called Tesla "arguably the most
important car company in the world.
We are not joking."
Currently, fiber optic cables
beam light signals through glass
cores, surrounded by materials that
continually reflect light back to the
core, ensuring the coherency of the
light signal remains high. Fiber optic
cables are limited in the amount
of power they can carry and the
need for physical infrastructure to
support them.
Recently, scientists have made
the equivalent of an optical fiber out
of thin air. This air 'optical fiber' can
transmit and amplify light signals
without the need for any cables.
"This is an optical fiber cable
that you can reel out at the speed
of light," says Professor Howard
Milchberg of the University of
Maryland, who led the research,
which was funded by the US military
and National Science Foundation.
OCT 2014
ISRAEL SKYCAR
By 2015, Israelis may see the gleaming
silver two-person transport ‘pods’ of a
futuristic magnetic levitation (maglev)
monorail system zipping above their heads.
Could this herald the future of public
transportation?
A 1,640 ft (500 metres) monorail
is being built on the campus of Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI). If it is
successful, a larger skyTran system could
be rolled out across Tel Aviv, Israel. The
computer-controlled pods will travel at up
to 43 mph (70km/h), with commercialgrade pods traveling at an estimated 150
mph (240 km/h). Low-maintenance tracks
move the cars with “passive” magnetic
levitation, requiring no additional power
to keep the pods elevated and mobile.
An initial burst of electricity starts each
pod moving at 10 to 15 mph, steadily
accelerating while levitating one centimeter
above the rails.
The small pods and fixed route make
the system akin to something between a
car and light rail. The system is automated;
passengers use their phones to summon
a pod and have it meet them at a specific
destination and whisk them away.
There are also skyTran routes in
‘advanced planning’ for Toulouse, France,
Kerala, India, and California. Worthy for
Manileño train envy, we say.
EASY TAXI
Taxicab operators all over the
world are responding to their new rivals,
ridesharing networks, with the adoption of
their own technological tools. Easy Taxi
has recently arrived in Manila to empower
cab drivers and passengers alike with an
easier, more reliable way to enjoy cab rides.
Easy Taxi is an app which allows
passengers to book a taxi and track it in
real time. The app is available on a wide
array of platforms - users can download
it for iOS, Android, Windows Phone,
Blackberry, and as a browser-based web
app for corporate accounts.
Easy Taxi uses GPS to automatically
detect passengers, and to plot trip routes
to passenger-determined locations. The
app scans the vicinity for nearby taxi
drivers, equipped with smartphones, who
can accept a ride or reject it; the first one
to accept will be assigned to the user,
who receives a confirmation along with
all the driver’s data, including his name,
license plate number, photo, and cellphone
number.
Easy Taxi’s young founder, Tallis
Gomes, came up with the idea in 2011,
when he had to wait for over half an hour
for a taxi in Rio de Janeiro one rainy night.
At first, he was unable to find an investor,
OCT 2014
WIFI BACKSCATTER
and had to sell his car to finance the
fledgling start-up. Easy Taxi’s first twenty
drivers were acquired at a local gas station,
and Gomes used his own personal savings
to buy smartphones for those twenty
drivers. Since then, Easy Taxi has grown to
be one of the largest taxi-hailing apps in
the world, with operations in 27 countries
and more than 120 cities. As of November
2013, the company reported it had over 3
million passengers and 80,000 taxi drivers
using the app.
For its operations in the Philippines,
Easy Taxi implemented a series of
education and physical training for the
drivers. “We don’t just give our drivers
passengers,” explained an Easy Taxi
spokesperson. “We educate them, we give
them basic financial training and English
lessons. Thanks to our telecom partner,
SMART, we empower the drivers by giving
them a phone and access to the Internet
- the first time they’ve had something like
that. We’re improving their literacy, making
them tech-savvy.” Easy Taxi says its overall
aim is to improve the perception of the
transportation industry in the Philippines just one of many ways in which technology
is helping the nation move forward into a
better tomorrow.
WiFi Backscatter is a new
communication system that uses radio
frequency signals as a power source.
Devices would conceivably harvest power
from ambient radio frequency signals like
television, cellular and WiFi transmissions.
Antennas have always easily picked
up RF signals; the trick was to make them
better as electricity converters. Researchers
from the University of Washington in
the US think that this technology holds
the promise of connecting "billions" of
devices to the Internet while avoiding the
age-old problem of limited battery power.
It could be a major catalyst for M2M
and IoT (Internet of Things) system
adoption, claimed Bryce Kellogg, a
doctoral student in electrical engineering
and co-author of a paper on WiFi
backscatter - especially considering that
existing WiFi access points could be
retro-fitted to utilize this technology.
"This means we could deploy a set of
battery-free sensors or smart IoT devices
around your house and then they could
communicate with your existing WiFi
router," he said. "This approach removes
a significant barrier to adoption."
OCT 2014
GOING
What things are
on the way out
GOING
2G
The rise of 3G and 4G connectivity
is enabling today’s proliferation of online
devices, as the more advanced telcos are
able to deliver increasingly sophisticated
and useful services over their increasingly
powerful networks. In the Philippines,
for example, SMART is preparing for
the transition to the IP version 6 (IPv6)
network standard, as well as rolling out
the foundation for the next-generation
mobile network technology called LTEAdvanced, and other network advances
like the Rich Communications Suite and
Voice over LTE (VoLTE), just as its
peers abroad are doing.
As the song goes, however, “Every
new beginning is some other beginning’s
end”, or, the rise of the latest technology
displaces the previous one. In this case,
the widespread demand for 3G and 4G
connectivity is ushering in the decline of
2G connectivity – otherwise referred to
as the 2G Sunset.
Certain carriers are already moving
to repurpose their 2G spectrums for the
build-out of LTE. For example, AT&T
has announced plans to shut down its
2G network by January 2017. Verizon
planned the introduction of LTE-only
phones to their network by the end of
2014, although they have since modified
their forecast to early 2016. Telstra has
announced the end of their 2G network
by the end of 2016. Device-makers are
already producing LTE-only models of
devices like tablets and modems.
The 2G sunset does not, however,
necessarily mean that 2G is dying; only
that its moment in the sun has passed.
It must now give way to its more robust
descendants. Many M2M devices and
sensors operate on 2G, and it is likely
that with data-hungry devices like
smartphones and tablets migrated onto
3G and 4G networks, M2M devices will
justify a 2G network dedicated solely to
M2M data traffic.
TELEMETRY
M2M communications had a
forerunner in the form of telemetry.
Telemetry transmits sensor data over
wired and wireless channels, in particular
over radio waves but also using older
landlines. Traditional telemetry can
be dated all the way back to the 19th
century. In 1874, for example, French
engineers built a system of weather and
snow-depth sensors on Mont Blanc
that transmitted real-time information
to Paris. Telemetry has been used for
purposes as diverse as tracking wild
wolves to securing corporate and
government assets.
Traditional telemetry has since
been surpassed by superior M2M
OCT 2014
technology. The sensors in telemetry
communications needed strong power
sources to transmit data over radio
networks. Also, data collection could be
spotty if a remote sensor was located
in a "dead spot” and hampered remote
placements. Today, M2M sensors offer
increased efficiency, sensitivity, and
accuracy, while transmitting in data
formats on faster, high-bandwidth
public wireless networks. Those longago French scientists would be proud
and amazed of what their first telemetry
systems would evolve into - today’s
M2M technology, underlying the
Internet of Everything.
RIDESHARING APPLICATIONS
Many US cities have conducted sting
operations and issued citations against
“ridesharing” companies like Lyft and
Uber. These companies allow users to
easily summon cars with a smartphone app.
Ridesharing has become controversial because
of issues like a lack of regulation, a failure to
provide adequate insurance for drivers or their
passengers, disclaiming liability for incidents
wherein drivers act illegally or get into fatal
accidents, and whether ridesharing drivers are
subject to regulations and legislation meant
for taxi cabs, buses, and other transport
companies.
As a result, Uber and Lyft are facing
numerous lawsuits around the world, often
filed by citizens and taxi firms. In February
2014, Paris taxi drivers held a protest against
ridesharing services like Uber, Allocab.com,
and Snapcar, that created gridlock traffic
all over the city. In April, Houston Mayor
Annise Parker told the city council that the
police force issued 26 citations to Uber and
Lyft drivers for operating illegal taxis. In the
Philippines, Uber was summoned by the Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board for its "colorum" operations, based
on a complaint filed by the local taxi industry
in August. In Germany, Uber faced its first
nationwide ban in September 2014, although
that temporary injunction was lifted by the
Frankfurt court two weeks later.
It’s a sobering experience for the
companies, but whether they will eventually
become part of the mainstream, be legislated
into oblivion, or transform enough to meet
requirements remains to be seen.
OCT 2014
PICTURE OF HE
THE FUTURE
SMART Enterprise builds an Internet of Everything ecosystem for Philippine Healthcare
100 Million Filipinos,
70,000 Doctors.
This means roughly one doctor for
every 1,428 Filipinos. And with almost
half of these doctors based in the
greater Manila area, chances are a person
goes through his entire life without
ever seeing a doctor, even for a routine
check-up. There must be a way to bridge
the yawning gap between doctors and
patients, between a growing population
and adequate healthcare. This is where
technology, specifically the Internet of
Everything (IoE) becomes crucial.
IoE reveals new possibilities in better
and more responsive service for the local
healthcare industry. Solutions such as
wearable intelligent medical devices can
eliminate what can be fatal delays. Gone
will be the days of protracted diagnosis
and treatment cycles. Doctors can now
check on numerous patients in real time,
wherever they or these patients may be.
It is a well-known fact that accurate and
timely patient status updates significantly
reduce mortality.
Leading the push for the Internet
of Everything and machine-to-machine
OCT 2014
(M2M) solutions in the Philippines,
SMART Enterprise recently rolled out
its first set of healthcare-focused M2M
services in the form of SMART M2M
Health: Remote Fetal Care and Mobile
ECG.
Just What the Doctor Ordered
SMART M2M Health’s first batch of
services addresses the biggest issues and
needs of the healthcare industry. 5 out
of 10 Filipinos die due to cardiovascular
diseases. In addition, infant deaths are a
major national concern with a mortality
rate of 42 per 1000 births. SMART M2M
Health: Remote Fetal Care and Mobile
ECG aim to reduce these numbers
through mobile real time monitoring.
SMART M2M Health: Remote
Fetal Care solution is centered on
a small device worn by expectant
mothers. During the pregnancy, the
device’s sensors constantly track both
maternal and fetal heart rates as well
as uterine contractions. Information is
safely transmitted via Bluetooth to the
mother’s mobile phone, which in turn
relays it to the hospital via SMART’s high
speed mobile broadband connection.
The solution’s application can enable
healthcare personnel with access to
With the SMART M2M Health: Remote
Fetal Care device, vitals of both the
mother and the baby are recorded and
transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile
phone, which in turn transmits it to
the hospital via SMART’s Nationwidest
Broadband Data connectivity.
multiple patient data anywhere, at any
time. In an emergency, the solution
instantaneously sends out SMS alerts
to response teams. With these abilities,
doctors can anticipate and resolve
complications before it’s too late.
At the heart of SMART M2M
Health: Mobile ECG is its wearable cardio
device. An embedded SMART SIM in the
device transmits cardio data from strobes
attached to the patient to the hospital’s
central server for real-time monitoring.
Just as in fetal care, the Mobile ECG
solution can also send instantaneous SMS
alerts in emergencies. This solution can
be provided as an add-on to executive
check-ups, where physicians can monitor
a patient’s heart condition throughout his
or her daily routine. It may also free up
vital bed space as more post-op patients
will be able to leave the hospital earlier
and continue the monitoring process
at home.
LTH
Providing Better Healthcare for All
Beyond fetal and cardiovascular
care, SMART Enterprise is also
looking at more ways M2M and IoE
can revolutionize the local healthcare
industry. Currently in the pipeline is an
M2M-powered glucose meter. With this
machine connected to SMART’s network,
blood sugar readings can be transmitted
via data connections for the instant expert
analysis of physicians and dieticians.
With more accurate and current
patient information, medical practitioners
now have better tools for timely
treatment. SMART Enterprise brings
new capabilities to the fore for Philippine
healthcare through end-to-end M2M
solutions. This is the unique combination
of high quality devices, world-class
applications, and SMART’s unbeatable
nationwidest network. It is exciting to see
medical institutions around the country
adopt these solutions to enhance the
industry’s regional stature and, most
importantly, in providing better healthcare
for all.
SMART M2M Health: Mobile ECG
enables cardiologists to remotely
monitor their patients’ heart
conditions, receiving real time updates
as well as SMS alerts in case of
emergencies.
OCT 2014
INSPIRATION AND
INSIGHTS ON
Newly elected officers of the Internet of Everything (IoE)
consortium share their thoughts on the meaning and impact of IoE
In June, SMART Enterprise introduced
and launched the first Philippine Internet
of Everything Consortium (PIoEC), a
group of industry leaders and technical
experts tasked to develop the IoE and
M2M ecosystem in the country.
In September, the founding members
convened in the very first gathering to
kick-start discussions on the goals of
the consortium, as well as conduct an
election of the board members. SEIPI
President Dan Lachica was elected
Chairman of the Board, and PLDT FVP
Jovy Hernandez elected as Vice Chairman.
The other elected members of the PIoEC
Board were BDO Consumer Lending
OCT 2014
Group – Merchant Acquiring Services
Vice President Gilbert Ramos, Cormant
Technologies CEO Ian Wilson, Meralco
Head of Strategy and Innovation Dr.
Engr. Bartosz Wojszczyk, ConcepcionCarrier Air Conditioning Company ICT
Director Sean Byrne, UP Professor of
Computer Science Dr. Jaime Caro, Cisco
Philippines Country Manager Louie
Castañeda, and eScience CEO Ricky
Dagelet.
HOT JOE sat down with the newly
elected officers to get their thoughts on
what IoE means to them, and what they
can do to help make it a reality.
OCT 2014
“The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitive Index
Ranking shows the Philippines advancing 7 places to 52nd
out of 144 economies in 2014-2015. The government's
drive against corruption is bearing fruit. One of the other
interesting developments in this WEF Global Competitiveness
Report is the recognition of the Philippines as one of the
best digitally connected developing Asian nations. PLDT/
SMART's initiative to form a consortium for the Internet of
Everything (IoE) is therefore timely and much-needed. The
semiconductor and electronics industry can contribute to this
consortium from the supply and demand sides, both from the
perspectives of consumers as well as manufacturers and/or
technology providers."
Jovy Hernandez
Dan Lachica
Vice Chairman, PIoEC
PLDT
Chairman of the Board, PIoEC
The Semiconductor and Electronics
Industries in the Philippines, Inc.
“As we connect more devices and more people, we should
make sure that we secure the data, and that we protect the
privacy of customers. This is our priority in all our solutions.
We can expand the Internet of Everything to government,
which I think has the biggest need for these services.”
“A revolution is upon us – a whole new way of working,
doing business, interacting, and even driving. ‘Smart things’
abound, with buzzwords such as Smart Offices, Smart
Industries, and Smart Homes quite common now. The
Philippines has its share of ‘smart things’ such as wireless
ATMs, wireless POS terminals, asset tracking, RFID solutions,
and telemetry - to name a few applications. However, all
these operations remain very fragmented. The IoE as a
concept is not a function of simply connecting ‘things’. It is
a state where millions of things, data, events and people
will be interconnected. IoE promises new innovations,
experiences, and benefits for end users. The Philippine IoE
Consortium was primarily created to capitalize on IoE, and
to make innovation and growth opportunities accessible to
business and the Filipino consumer. With the collected efforts
and expertise of its members, the Consortium will work
to achieve meaningful advances in the state of IoE in the
Philippines.“
“Cisco is focused on sharing the best practices that we have
developed in creating technologies, and sharing trends in the
industry, as well as access to experts in the region. We can
help make the Philippines a competitive country by training
people in areas like IoE to become technology experts.”
Ricky Dagelet
Board Member, PIoEC
eScience
Louie Castañeda
Board Member, PIoEC
Cisco Philippines
OCT 2014
OCT 2014
“Unlike the US where everything is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
or electronic, the Philippines is still all manual. Indeed, there are
great opportunities for us to develop new ideas, to reach consumers,
to deal enterprise solutions, government solutions. If we can work
together with different representatives, there is a lot we can benefit
– for different partners, over time. The main thing is to have a good
structure, find common points of interest, and grow the opportunity.”
“We concentrate a lot on the technology innovation, forgetting
that at the end of the day, it’s really about delivering value to
our customers, both individual and corporate. Innovation should
empower customers with energy choice and service flexibility,
provide business growth, job creation, and enhance the Philippines’
economic competitiveness regionally and globally.”
Ian Wilson
Board Member, PIoEC
Cormant Technologies
“How UP plans to contribute to the Consortium is through
continuous R&D. We look forward to closer collaboration,
bringing research to commercial players, and a closer
collaboration with industry to bring about a win-win situation.”
Board Member, PIoEC
University of the Philippines
OCT 2014
Board Member, PIoEC
Meralco
“Collectively, we have many years of shared experience in
various fields. Having all these companies in the consortium
will surely help in shaping IoE in the future and its
contribution to the financial industry. For BDO, we will bring
to the table the voice of the customer. As a service entity, we
are in a position to share the demands and preferences of
customers relative to new tech-driven solutions.”
Dr. Jaime Caro
“The path to an Internet of Everything is going to be a long one; it’s
not something that is going to happen overnight – but it is inevitable.
For CCAC, our mission is ‘making the world a better place to live,
work, and play’, and we see IoE playing a significant role in helping
us achieve that mission by allowing us to get closer to our customers
by seeing what is happening out in their environment in real
time – down to the second. By being part of the consortium, we have
an opportunity to help drive this new phase in technology and build
opportunities for our customers, our business, and the Philippines.”
Dr. Engr. Bartosz Wojszczyk
Gilbert Ramos
Board Member, PIoEC
BDO
Sean Byrne
Board Member, PIoEC
Concepcion-Carrier Air
Conditioning Company
OCT 2014
THE FUTURE
WE LIVE IN
“Smart home appliances equipped with innovative
M2M connectivity will open up a new era in
convenient and efficient home management and
quality of life,” said Scott Jung, managing director
of LG Electronics Singapore.
ABI Research estimates that the connected
home market was worth USD9.2 billion in 2013,
and will grow to USD15.1 billion in five years.
Alarm
Wine Collection
A wine collection protected with
M2M sensors monitoring a wide
range of variables, ranging from
humidity and temperature levels,
to lighting conditions and even if
there was an earthquake.
A motion sensing alarm that works on two
levels. First, it sends a text message (at certain
hours of the day), to notify users if anyone
has disturbed the area, and it also plays some
predator sounds to scare away creatures.
Water Meter
Customers are invoiced for their exact
water usage. They also receive automatic
alerts in the event of unusual levels of
water consumption. Real estate managers
can also check year-round usage across
a number of properties.
Lights
Dryer
Household lights that flash red when
a smart smoke detector senses smoke
or carbon monoxide.
Smart dryers keeping clothes
“fresh and wrinkle-free” until
users arrive home.
Energy Efficiency (Solar Panels)
Smart energy efficiency systems can measure electricity
consumption and can distribute energy from “off-grid”
sources, including solar panels.
Thermostat
Solutions like the Nest thermostat
can help optimize the temperature
in the house.
Blinds
Health Monitors
M2M sensors monitor physical
condition through a heart rate or
vital signs, automatically sending
alerts if necessary.
M2M-enabled blinds. The solution
allows in only a certain amount of light
before automatically changing position.
It also is set up to allow maximum light,
and even closes automatically based on
sunset time.
Smart Locks
Refrigerator
Car
Smart cars telling the house a user’s ETA, allowing
the house’s systems to shift from ‘stand-by’ to
‘ready for a user to enter’.
OCT 2014
Gardening
M2M solutions to ensure maximum
growing capability, notifying users
when the plants need water, what the
pH levels are and even how much
light certain plants are getting.
M2M-based food management system,
which allows consumers to check food
items stored inside via their smartphones or
its built-in LCD panel. The appliance even
recommends dishes that can be cooked using
the ingredients that it happens to be storing,
or alert users of upcoming expiration dates.
M2M sensors allow keyless entries, and timedependent access so users can allow a guest
access via cellphone, and then end access
when guests leave or if a phone is stolen.
Built-in cameras can allow homeowners to be
texted a picture of anyone knocking on the
door, and the option to remotely unlock the
door if they recognize the face.
OCT 2014
Say
Last
THE BEGINNING OF
Brighter Business
under the SUN
BEYOND
Working in a technology company, I have
come to appreciate how quickly technology
is advancing. Revolutionary ideas can go
from concept to prototype, and to real world
applications at a breathtaking pace, changing
our whole world in the process. While our
ancestors lived and worked in a world that
remained very similar to their grandparents’,
we have the privilege of living in an era of
constant paradigm shifts. We went from the
very first flying machines to landing men on
the moon within the space of a single lifetime.
We went from “wireless telephony” being a
vision of the future to an integral and essential
part of everyday life within the bounds of the
twentieth century. And today, we stand on the
very edges of a technological revolution that
promises to, once again, change the very fabric
of our lives.
I’m talking about the advent of the
Internet of Everything – the idea of seamless
communication and interaction between
interconnected devices and sensors.
The stated ideal is to have systems that
run automatically, autonomously – “intelligent”
systems really, that can “think” and “act” more
efficiently and accurately than any manual
system. In this issue, we’ve already explored
the origins of such an intelligent system, one
that may be applied to any utility provider to
guard against pilferage or loss. The Internet
of Everything is giving everyone – from
international corporations down to private
individuals – more relevant information and
the means to immediately act on it.
At the 2013 Google I/O, for example,
Google deployed over 4,000 environmental
sensors at the San Francisco Moscone Center
in order to keep a constantly updated eye on
the location’s temperature, pressure, light, air
quality, motion, and noise level throughout the
conference. And this is just one example out
of many on how companies around the world
are using this technology to enhance their
1
Vodafone’s 2014 ‘M2M Adoption Barometer’ report
OCT 2014
productivity, customer service, and business
agility. In fact, our Asia Pacific region boasts
the highest rate of M2M application adoption
in the world. More than 25% of APACbased companies say they use M2M in their
businesses, compared with 21% adoption rates
across Europe and 17% in the Americas1.
And I have personally started to enjoy
the benefits of the IoE through my own use
of another growing trend: wearables. With
the constant feedback and the quantifiable
data I could access because of my fitnessmonitoring wristband, along with the use
of the accompanying app, I seem to be able
to maintain a healthier lifestyle, reinforcing
my healthy behaviors and constantly being
warned of my unhealthy behaviors through the
technology on my wrist. I, and thousands like
myself, are the beneficiaries and at the same
time growing patrons of companies like Apple,
Samsung, and Nike, which invest heavily in the
technology. I look forward to seeing how the
just-announced Apple Watch, and Samsung’s
own line of wearables – to name just a few –
will affect the fitness habits of people around
the world as it has already started to affect
mine.
Of course the IoE and M2M solutions will
have to rely on the integrity and stability of a
world-class network. In addition, if projections
are right and eventually we will have billions
of chattering sensors and devices, there will be
mountains of data to sort, store, and interpret.
On these two crucial points, the PLDT
Group has got enterprise organizations
covered. Intense investment in our network and
data center infrastructures are proof of our
commitment to ensuring that the Philippines is
ready for the revolution to come. We recently
added additional capacity to our domestic fiber
optic network (DFON), connecting Bohol and
Palawan to the main network and strengthening
their traditional industries. Additionally, our
network of world-class VITRO Data Centers
Eric r. Alberto
PLDT Executive Vice President
and ePLDT President & CEO
represents the largest Philippine data center
network of its kind. Each VITRO Data Center
is built according to the toughest and most
demanding BCP standards, and we are set to
expand with more centers in the near future.
As wondrous as new technology is,
giving us expanded capabilities in everything
from smart cars to improved health through
sensor-fed monitoring, to enhanced corporate
productivity with improved logistics, I continue
to believe that the true wonders lie in the often
unheralded back end – the essential network
and infrastructure that makes it all possible.
Now, on that tempting slab of Angus Rib
Eye… my Fitbit tells me not to touch it!
Starting today, every ALPHA business organization will
enjoy more flexible mobile service options with SUN Business
packages. As your business grows along with your workforce,
SUN Business becomes more Pro-Business than ever. You
get reasonable mobile services that serve any business
unit, regardless of size and budget. And because they’re
scalable, you can pick a SUN Business package that matches
your specific pace and needs.
Lighten up your monthly mobile needs!
SUN Business plans enlighten every enterprise. Postpaid plans
start at Plan 350 and you may agree it’s a low-cost mobile
service tailored for your wireless telecommunication needs.
Lighten up your monthly bill with Sun Business’ Fixed Load
Plans that eliminate excess charges, keeping you within
budget. Finally, Sun Broadband Plan 799 provides the most
affordable unlimited 3G connections on a wider array of
tablets and device bundles. These new exciting packages
make it a brighter day for ALPHA Enterprise clients.
And it’s how ALPHA expertise and excellence now shines with
SUN Business, through and through.
www.pldtalpha.com
[email protected]
88-ALPHA(25742)
M2M Services
Bottling Plant
Inventory
SKU 1
SKU 2
Sales
Inventory