track days - PLDT ALPHA
Transcription
track days - PLDT ALPHA
VOLUME 19 J U LY 2014 A RETROSPECTIVE: 4TRACK DAYS SPECTACULAR A FORWARD VIEW ON IT WITH RCBC UNLOCKING HOW THE PLDT AND ORACLE PARTNERSHIP CHANGES THE CLOUD GAME PALAWAN'S POTENTIALS We will rock. We may roll. But we will remain unbroken. Can a business really grow stronger and safer on the trust. Philippine business survivability rides on the spine of the of the world’s active volcanoes, and generates 90% of the world’s earthquakes. In response, VITRO facilities are battletested and hardened against the worst disasters, including earthquakes. The VITRO Data Center is structurally reinforced provided are for VITRO Data Center Pasig). Its racks feature 1 2 3 The Philippines (April 2013 - April 2014) In the past year, the country has experienced 191 earthquakes of 1.5 magnitude or higher – the greatest being the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol. Bohol (October 2013) The damage caused by the earthquake in Bohol has been estimated at PHP 2.5 billion. Japan (March 2011) The Japanese government has estimated damage from the Tohoku earthquake and the accompanying tsunami at ¥ 25 trillion ($ 309 billion) – the most expensive natural disaster in recent history. In addition, independent 24/7 power supplies onsite assure you with round the clock business continuity. These, and more, exemplify the high-quality standards in place at each and every VITRO Data Center: Pasig, Cebu, Subic – the ideal network of data centers in the Philippines for absolute business continuity. Proven by experience, not promises. VITRO Data Center: Enabling a Business Certain Philippines. Leading the Alliance of Trust www.pldtalpha.com | [email protected] | 88-ALPHA ASC Ref. Code: P016P050614P http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/japan-sees-quake-damage-bill-of-up-to-309-billion-almost-four-katrinas.html | http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/511637/earthquake-damage-in-bohol-placed-at-p2-5b | http://www.usgs.gov/ The VITRO Data Center is purpose-built for critical business continuity, and there are several compelling reasons why you will need our robust infrastructure. Jovy Hernandez Editor Nico Alcoseba Mikey Smyth Managing Editors Gerrard Fabie Editorial Adviser Markus Jentes Creative Director Andrew Batiduan Art Director 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 Kaye Pineda Mac Lubaczewski Paula Venturina Krystel Santos Daniella Marfori Patricia Mariano Editorial Contributors Vickie Perez de Tagle Executive Producer In this issue we look at four years of successful ALPHA Track Days and the achievements in cementing relationships with our success-driven partners in the industry. You may be already familiar with our original Track Day values of Speed, Accuracy, and Teamwork – the common values we need in business as well as in thrilling motorsports. This retrospective serves as our Main Window on page 10. Our Partner Peek on page 28 features our new collaboration with cloud services Oracle as well as highlighting the importance of taking the “long view” on enterprise cloud migration. We are building new linkages as well to every remaining frontier of the country, particularly in Palawan as we unveil the latest DFON expansion there. A fresh Hot Joe section dedicated to SMART Enterprise wireless solutions, MoBiz on page 58, takes a look at SMART Infinity Enterprise offerings for discerning high performing managers. Perhaps among all its values, it is teamwork that is demonstrated most at every ALPHA Track Day. Together we’ve learned the importance of communicating our goals and tactics clearly, and working out executions flawlessly and to successful effect. May this synergy we have happily nurtured between us live beyond the track and into the blistering new pace of business that awaits us all. Jovy hernandez Editor 10 24 05 08 10 18 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR A letter from Jovy Hernandez about the teamwork-centered past and future of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. CLIENT CALLS Letters from actual PLDT clients, written to share their own unique experiences with PLDT. MAIN WINDOW A look at Track Days of the past and present, and how they exemplify the fast-paced, accurate collaboration of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. LIVE WIRE RCBC on the importance of its relationship with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise in order to deliver high-class banking services. 24 PLDT INSIDER 28 PARTNER PEEK 32 WERE YOU THERE 40 SOLVED Chief Technology Officer of PLDT/SMART/SUN Olan Peña on building a dominant network, and where to go from there. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and Oracle work together for better enterprise cloud deployments. A more extreme look at the cloud with Oracle, fun and games at the Manila Game Show, weathering the next big one in VITRO Cebu and Subic, and a more businesscertain, voice-enabled Cebu. The Philippine frontier experiences a boost in their economic options with PLDT’s Palawan DFON expansion. 18 28 44 CAUGHT ON PAGE 50 COMING GOING 58 MOBIZ 60 THE ALPHA BITS 62 THE LAST SAY PLDT ALPHA Enterprise transforming business through stronger relationships with CCAC, EastWest Bank, Conexus, and more. What’s rising, what’s dying, and what’s dead among the technologies of today. A high-level executive needs a high-level mobile plan. That’s why we have SMART Infinity Enterprise. Bits of knowledge any ALPHA should know. Eric R. Alberto on the paramount importance of teamwork, accuracy and speed in both high-speed racing and enterprise ICT. Calls CLIENT Dear PLDT management team, You made this happen. Our move to a new and bigger warehouse in Taguig last May 2014 came one year earlier than scheduled. A data connection is one of the critical factors for the transition. And with such a short notice to PLDT team, Cielle sensed the urgency of the requirement to put up the IPVPN, wireless lines, ecofax, etc., and has taken the initiative to discuss internally to meet the timeline. This warehouse is equipped with the latest technology including a sub-zero chiller chamber. The inauguration yesterday was attended by our GETZ GROUP president Ray Simkins. GETZ GROUP has 10,000+ employees worldwide with diversified businesses in 25 countries headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA. As we continue to grow and achieve this important milestone, we are fortunate to partner with the best service provider in town. Again from the rest of the GBPI Mancom team, we thank you PLDT team for another unwavering support. Melanie Licup IT Director Getz Brothers Philippines, Inc. Dear Ma’am Abigail, I would like to thank you and your team for your prompt action regarding our Internet installation at the KAJIMA-SPWS Project in Hermosa Bataan. Ms. Yen and I went to the project site and tested the newly installed internet connection. The circuit is now up and running. Please accept our sincere thanks as a token of appreciation for a job well done. Keep it up team! Kind regards, Arthur Diaz Kajima Philippines Inc. JULY 2014 Dear John, Anton, This is to formalize my compliment to Ace Evangelista who is constantly providing us excellent customer service. I am very much impressed with the way he provided us with different solutions that fit our requirements. He proactively gives us updates on the latest offerings and almost all of the products available under PLDT. He extended his time just to ensure that committed timelines are met, or most of the time, completed even earlier. One example is the network connection transfer to a newly located Clark Office. Despite the very short notice, Ace was able to provide the service needed on time with the support from the technical team. Because of this timely transfer, the business units were able to provide quality service to our end customers, and we were able to provide business as usual without any downtime and impact. I look forward to continuous excellent account management with Ace. I know that he works round the clock just to provide answers to all my questions, even those beyond his control. Again thank you for this excellent performance and we hope to see improvements in the technical support so that Ace would be able to provide better solution for our requirements. There’s more business to explore and I need a partner that I can always trust. As the Sr. IT Manager for the U.S. Embassy and behalf of my team, I sincerely appreciate the effort, focus, and cooperation of the PLDT team. Our demands were many but your team was clearly up to the task. I just left the White House Communications team and they were thoroughly impressed and had nothing but praise for everyone's professionalism, expertise, and cool demeanor in making this a very successful visit. I am very happy to know that PLDT is reliable and proven, and that I can call upon in the future. Please pass my, and those of the U.S. Embassy, sincere thanks to your team. Sincerely, Judith S. Antaran Country Director Information Technology DHL Global Forwarding (Phils.), Inc. Hi Ken, We thank you for the speedy and efficient handling of the defective module incident. It underscores the importance of having a relationship manager you can count on. Please extend our thanks and congratulate everyone involved in the resolution of this incident, especially those who are not covered by this email loop. Best regards. Mayi Valdes Director of Operations ENCASH Sincerely, Mr. Meredith "Tiny" Donaway Information Management Officer Embassy of the United States of America Anton, I echo Tiny's words of praise. As a Presidential Communications Officer, I travel the US and the world constantly. I can say, with no hesitation, that the speed, skill, and effort your team executed on the Bonifacio gym installation is second to none, amazing! Our requirements and demands are massive and you met them all in good fashion. Please pass my sincerest thanks and gratitude to the entire PLDT/ SMART team. I look forward to working with your team in the future. Very Respectfully, Jason Sabol Presidential Communication Officer White House Communications Agency Another knock-out day with PLDT ALPHA! Well planned and thoughtfully executed. Can’t wait to see what they dream up next!!! The karting was a total rush. It was great fun and it allowed us to “compete” with each other in real-time. Will definitely do it again!!! Track Day 2014 was awesome! Adrenaline filled. ALPHA all the way. Track Day is, by far, the best client appreciation event by far, and the only one I look forward to. This year was professionally put together and the positive attitudes of the organizers, the ladies, and the instructors helped make it superb. There were several events that I liked. The go-karts I think brought the right amount of energy and adrenaline into the event, like last year’s driving experience. I can only look forward to next year! Paul Birdseye VXI It was fun and a good venue for networking with the colleagues in the industry Target shooting was my favorite activity. Very exciting, was able to practice my shooting skills. Track Day 2014 was excellent. I loved most of the events, and I loved the overall hospitality. My favorite activity was the Go-Kart race. Abheihek Ancend IBM One word – excellent! My favorite activities: drive by shooting, NASCAR, go-karting. Matthew Squires International SOS Engr. Junne Narito Pascual Laboratories Inc. Mark Galutera DSM Manila – White&Case It was the Godzilla event of the year. Everything was well planned and executed. The organizers, spending quality time with Jojo Jimenez and the Ramirez brothers and the beautiful models unlimited! My favorite activity was the NASCAR. It’s a once in a lifetime event and part of my bucket list. I enjoyed driving in the same car as Jojo Jimenez. Raymund Austria Aegis Frankly, you guys beat your records every year. We really appreciate all your efforts. You rock! My favorite activities are Karting, NASCAR Subramaniam Kuthalingam Intelenet It was great! (as expected) Since the last one, I have looked forward to this and I wasn’t disappointed. It was so good that even if you repeat the events, we won’t mind. Maybe the good idea for next track day would be the best of the 4 previous ones! The NASCAR / Slalom / Gymkhana / Shooting were my favorite events because it’s a good change of activity for me from regular business/office activities. Cris Dy IDESS Maritime It was fantastic! Great mix of activities for everyone to get involved. The NASCAR event, for me, was the most exciting. Tim Macnamara Enghouse Interactive It was lots of fun, and I met some great business contacts. The best event is the NASCAR driving because I can drive fast. Rick Olson Pacific Payments Corporation I liked that the event was absolutely well organized. And the staff that were helping during the event made you feel special. A big well done! My favorite activities were: Go-Karts and Gymkhana. Marcus Mckenzie Goodyear Business Services I felt that the event was well prepared. We truly felt pampered. My favorite activities were the Go-Kart (for the competition) and the Car Trials (for allowing me to try out new cars). Donavan Yu Journey Tech WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! SEND YOUR THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, OR FEEDBACKS 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. THIS IS THE SPEED OF EXCELLENCE, THE TRIUMPH OF COLLABORATION PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Track Day Sets the Pace for B2B Collaboration and Success Among the remarkable key traits of the business-tobusiness (B2B) market is its collaborative nature. Because of the scale of transactions and investments involved, customer input in successful product development and the processes involved in resolving issues is not only nice to have, it’s absolutely essential. And this is especially true in the Enterprise ICT space, wherein PLDT ALPHA Enterprise had first cultured a priority on well-maintained relationships to smoothen this timeless collaboration with enterprise customers. This would be the first step towards assuming a new integral role as a trusted business partner to companies. And so it’s easy to see how the first ALPHA Track Day was the opportune time to launch the PLDT ALPHA Enterprise brand. At center stage was an automotive racing extravaganza with its clear metaphors to the equally precise demands in business. In both the margins between success and failure can be razor thin, measured in milliseconds or less. From the very beginning it was clear that nothing less than excellence was required throughout every step of fulfilling the enterprise customer experience. From projection and diagnosis, to provisioning and followups, everything had to be absolutely spot-on. By “feeling the customer’s pain” and in accurately predicting his or her future business requirements or operating environment, PLDT ALPHA’s transformation from mere vendor or provider and into a fullyfledged business partner would be complete. Four ALPHA Track Days later, and the commitment remains steadfast, evolving in parallel with the identity and mission of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise itself. Today, PLDT ALPHA has earned its stripes as a trusted expert end-to-end ICT partner for business, with the need for tight seamless coordination as profound and critical as ever on the track as in the business arena. 1 2 3 5 Danny Piano, Cesar Enriquez, SBMA Chairman Bobby Garcia, Eric Alberto, Jovy Hernandez, and Subic International Airport Manager Zharex Santos 2. The Green Team smiles for the camera, ready to take on the day’s activities. 3. The Yellow Team poses for a group photo, showing team spirit. 4. PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and ALPHA Track Day 2014 go-kart champion Jovy Hernandez grasps the checkered flag in victory. 5. The Orange Team flashes the ALPHA sign for the camera. 6. Go-kart racers, led by #70 Jovy Hernandez, line up at their starting positions. 7. The instructor briefs race participants to ensure track safety. 8. Anticipation and adrenaline build up as race participants await the green flag. 9. A racer is ready to go as he gives us a “thumbs up” prior to the green flag. 7 10. Go-karters flash the ALPHA sign before the race. 11. Diana Tibbs awaits her next racing activity. 8 12. The Pink Team takes a break from the highspeed activities for this photo op. 13. Kent de la Calzada, John Gonzales, Tony Gamboa, Mark Parco, Jun Zulueta, Francis Cuenca, Joms Adajar, Raymund Austria, and Vic Tria 10 6 4 1. 11 12 9 Today the Philippine business landscape is waking up to a highly globalized reality, with best world practices and standards holding sway. We are moving away from a cloistered acceptance of mediocrity in some instances and into a more widespread professionalism. In particular industries like business process outsourcing, finance, and manufacturing, Filipino management and workforces have had to uncover true world-class mettle. The unfolding of this story, one of Filipino business emergence should be interesting to witness as ASEAN moves out of traditionally protected markets and inevitably integrates into a single sphere of shared opportunities and challenges. So far it seems that all along, Philippine enterprise organizations had the ALPHA Track Day prerequisites in finishing first: speed, accuracy, and teamwork. And yet it’s never really over, is it? The race goes on— faster and more furious, urgent and more real. See you all at the next starting line. Here. We. Go. 13 14 14. The Blue Team flashes the ALPHA sign in true, cool fashion. 15. ePLDT President and CEO and PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International, and Carrier Business Eric Alberto delivers the ALPHA Track Day 2014 welcoming remarks. 16. Rick Olson readies himself before jumping into one of the cars for the NASCAR driving experience. 17. Go-kart racers are all smiles after their turn on the track. 18. Guests enjoy an exclusive sneak peek at the latest Maserati cars in the market. 19. A go-kart driver strikes a pose for the camera before the race. 20. Boy Castañeda, Eric Alberto, Buddy Madrigal, Michael Aquino, and Sensen Bernardo 20 21. V8 muscle cars rev up their engines on the tarmac. 22. Elaine Kunkle takes aim during the mounted target shooting activity. 23. A driver confidently fires up his engine. 24. An instructor assists a participant on the Segway’s driving characteristics. 25. David Caldwell, Lawrence Cu, and Subramaniam Kuthalingam 26. Marcus McKenzie displays unflappable cool in the face of the day’s heat. 21 22 23 25 26 15 16 17 18 19 24 27 32 33 27. The Red Team is clearly pumped up and ready to go. 28. ALPHA Track Day 2014 host James Deakin and “Master-chef of racing” George Ramirez pump up the crowd during the morning briefing. 29. Britannia rules a patch of the Philippine asphalt with this Union Jacked Mini Cooper. 34 30. A victorious pose is struck by a go-kart racer. 31. A black Peugeot prepares to maneuver around the slalom course. 28 36 32. Alan Chng, Cesar Enriquez, Buddy Madrigal, and Michael Aquino 33. Race winners Norman Carcellar, Cris Dy, and Jovy Hernandez receive their awards during the evening’s festivities. 35 34. David Porter stalks his target, ready to fire. ALPHA TRACK DAY 2014 | May 9, 2014 | Subic Bay International Airport Partners: PLDT, SMART, ePLDT, C! Magazine, Peugeot, Mini Cooper, Jaguar, Maserati, Shell, Segway, City Kart, and Asian Formula Autosport Foundation 29 35. Rob Tanyag confidently fires his paintball gun aboard a speeding vehicle. 36. A V8 Mustang burns rubber on the racetrack. 37. Jon Cervantes and Jovy Hernandez 38. Gabriel Pardo and Andrew Gascoigne 39. A Mini Cooper zooms across the Subic International Airport. Photo credit: Lester Anthony Shih 37 IN MEMORIAM FERDINAND “ENZO” PASTOR 30 31 38 39 (1982 – 2014) A TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE IN BANKING RCBC leverages their expert partnership with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise to provide a better banking experience hen the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) started in the 1960s, they were a simple, single-branch development bank in Binondo. It was difficult for anyone to predict how banking would change half a century later. And what a staggering change it would be. Today banking serves a 24/7, globalizing marketplace with multiple currencies in play, vast transactions occurring in the blink of an eye, and increasing demands for digital banking services. This is how RCBC’s commitment to innovation and their strong investments in information technology have kept them at the forefront of modern banking trends, rising from that single branch to one of the country’s five largest banks by assets, opening 15 new business centers and extension offices and deploying 140 new ATMs in 2013. for those same qualities in our partners. In terms of reach or connectivity, SMART and PLDT’s networks give you the most comprehensive coverage nationwide. In terms of range and flexibility, we’ve enjoyed a wealth of options. For example, we started with simple mobile phones – now we have iPads and Netcast and BlackBerries, and SMART still supports everything from feature phones to the latest smartphones and tablets.” When asked about RCBC’s relationship with the people behind PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART ourselves focusing on that. That's the challenge of any CIO in banking: how can you balance your dependence on technology with the fact that a bank's resources are better spent on our core competencies? For me, the best way to handle this is to leave your IT to experts, leaving you free to focus on your business. If you can find an expert partner, then so much better." In this regard, Mr. Bancod is looking closely at the evolving state of cloud technology, which allows enterprises to use virtual infrastructure and remote access to manage and meet their ICT As far as I can remember, PLDT and SMART have been our first choice partnership. The Three “R”s This dedication to keeping up with technological advances requires an expert ICT partner, which RCBC has found in the PLDT Group. According to Dennis C. Bancod, RCBC Senior Executive Vice President, RCBC’s high-level requirements for ICT have always been ably met by the PLDT Group. “As far as I can remember, PLDT and SMART have been our first choice partnership. We always go to them for our networking needs and IT requirements. It’s a good partnership and we have been very happy with it.” He attributed the smooth working relationship to a fundamental synergy between the two companies in terms of service priorities. “I have always looked at our ability to go for reach and range when it comes to serving our clients, and I look Enterprise, Mr. Bancod answered: “I’ve talked about reach and range. Well, we want our clients to feel we are responsive to their needs, and we look for that in our partners too. That’s the third ‘r’ – responsiveness. That’s something we’ve found in SMART and PLDT. They have the ability to anticipate our requirements before we tell them; maybe it’s because we have been partners for a long time.” Finding an Expert Partner Mr. Bancod acknowledges the role of technology in driving banking innovation, but warns against focusing too many resources on IT. "IT in banking is evolving, but we have to recognize it is not our core business," he explains. "However, banking is very dependent on technology. My vision is to use technology, but not spend requirements, and makes it easier to offload the burden of maintenance, troubleshooting, and set-up to experts in the area. He pointed out that while banking regulations restrict the extent banks can make use of the cloud, the savings and efficiencies they can realize are still quite substantial. “For example, bank secrecy laws disallow us from outsourcing customer information. But we can do selective outsourcing. Of course, this is easier said than done, especially here in the Philippines where our ICT is still in its infancy. In Singapore, the US, and Europe the technology is more mature; here we still struggle with the skill set necessary to coordinate our ICT with other companies. However, I see more people doing just that in about five years’ time, especially with the cloud.” Analytics Traditionally, analytics was once limited to simple customer demographics. But today with the rise of M2M technology and greater connectivity, analytics has exploded into much more sophisticated uses for data. RCBC relies on SMART Enterprise’s mobile networks to process their deep analytics data. Nowadays, RCBC can analyze customer demographics, as well as nuances of customer behavior and overall lifestyle, in order to deliver a better service experience. “Banks are transitioning into analyzing customer behavior fully, including the types of interactions they have and the frequency,” explained Mr. Bancod. Mr. Bancod gave the example of a customer who pays his bill to Meralco every fifth day of the month. Knowing this, RCBC can set alerts reminding the customer to pay their bills, or even perform the payments for them. The overall strategy is to use the analytics data to yield targetted services and solutions to customers swiftly. All this translates into greater opportunities for cross selling - a strategy true not only for RCBC but for the entire Yuchengco Group. This strategy Mr. Bancod says, generates a high rate of investments, with up-selling and cross-selling rates supported by their analytics. Mobility and MDM The mobility of RCBC’s workforce has been crucial in their continuing mission to deliver a high level of client service. In 2010, they launched a landmark program to equip their employees with tablets - based on both the iOS and Android platforms - outfitted with special banking applications with all the capabilities of office-bound systems. “Customers like our mobility,” explained Mr. Bancod. “Their expectations have changed, and we at RCBC have adapted to their rising standards. Clients want greater control over their personal accounts; they like having the bank come to them rather than them having to go to the bank. They like being able to conduct transactions right where they are. And with our new mobile capabilities, which have been designed for both internal and external usage, we can give them exactly that.” While proud of the enhanced capabilities of RCBC’s mobile platforms, Mr. Bancod acknowledges that an uncontrolled mobile platform comes with risks. “The Philippines has some very stringent bank secrecy laws,” he pointed out. He explained that, for compliance, banks used to keep their networks closed for security reasons; however, mobile applications and mobile access requires access to open networks. RCBC has dealt with this issue by implementing thorough and careful mobile device management (MDM) protocols throughout their company. Above photo: RCBC’s Cecille Maravilla, RCBC Chief Technology Officer and concurrent Shared Technology Services Head Jennie Lansang, RCBC Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Information Offiicer Dennis Bancod, PLDT VP and Corporate Relationship Management Head Jojo Gendrano, SMART Enterprise Marketing Head Chet Alviz, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Relationship Manager Bel Aragon, and SMART Senior Segment Marketing Specialist Leslie Samonte “MDM allows us to offer high-level service without compromising our high level of security,” said Mr. Bancod. “This isn’t just securing apps or the data on our phones: it’s a holistic security policy that looks at every element involved. We depend heavily on SMART to help us with this, through their MDM solution with MobileIron. We already have implemented that solution within our organization, but currently we are studying the possibility of upgrading what we already have.” Mobile banking In the Philippines, the majority of Filipinos are “unbanked” - without access to banking services. Out of a hundred million Filipinos, over 80 million are unbanked - particularly rural Filipinos. RCBC has made it a goal to reach out to them with the financial services they need. “RCBC is one of the first major banks to go into microfinance, through our Rizal microbanking subsidiary,” says Mr. Bancod. “We launched in Davao with small loans to SMEs, loans as low as 10,000 - 20,000 PHP. We further expanded to other areas in Mindanao. JULY 2014 We’ve started launching mobile banking offices (MBOs)--banking on wheels - we use a mobile container van as an extension office, providing a faster alternative to traditional offices.” Many experts agree that microfinance, as an encouragement to micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs, is one of the most potent ways to alleviate poverty and help develop local economies. That’s why PLDT ALPHA Enterprise has codesigned ICT solutions specifically for microfinance operations, such as PaaSdeveloped apps meant to help coordinate loan approvals, or SMART M2M solutions for helping credit investigators - ICT solutions perfect for microbanking pioneers like RCBC. The ASEAN Future Mr. Bancod sees a bright future in store for RCBC, as its partnership with SMART and PLDT continues in the coming years. "The Bank counts on its existing partnership with PLDT and SMART, as it leverages heavily on its strong technology infrastructure, in preparing for the Asean Economic Integration in the next five years.” In this, as in so much else in the exclusive partnership between PLDT/ SMART and all members of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, it can be confidently predicted that the close alliance will yield substantial benefits for everyone involved. This will be especially true as banking continues to change ever so dramatically. Mr. Bancod proudly shows RCBC’s in-house IT infrastructure, which is ably supported by SMART Enterprise. It’s a good partnership and we have been very happy with it. THE DOMINANT NETWORK OF SPEED AND ACCURACY More than half a decade on the PLDT network journey continues with a keen focus on customers first The last time HOT JOE interviewed Olan Peña, currently the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of PLDT/ SMART/SUN, was in November of 2007. Seven years seems to have just breezed by for the dedicated engineer who is now at the center of an ever-morphing PLDT Network. “I was a young man back then,” he looks at his picture amongst the somewhat thicker paper of our earlier issues. In reality, we were all younger back then, enamored with the promises of interconnectivity and the still-fresh double adjective description of an emerging work standard: the ability to work anytime, anywhere. It is an ability we pretty much take for granted now, one chiefly enabled by the tireless efforts of Mr. Peña and his team behind the PLDT Network which now spans the functions for PLDT, SMART, and SUN. Insider PLDT Mr. Peña’s career is a long and storied one, starting 32 years ago in 1982, a time when, he says “there was no widespread use of cellular phones, and basic connection speeds were barely above 50bps.” Yes you read that right. Fifty bits per second -- bps sans k or m. As the Chief Technology Officer for PLDT, SMART, and SUN, Mr. Peña and his team are focused on the planning, building and operating of all network infrastructure including the core network of transport, and access networks for customer connections to each other as well as business connections to the cloud. Even More Vast and Capable “Back in 2007, our major assignment and directive was to consolidate the mobile network to serve our customers. A by-product of this strategy was providing better wireless technology to the home,” he says. According to Mr. Peña, 2007 was really the “Organizing Phase”. Today however, everything is in full swing. “We are now in the execution stage,” he points to the fact that the PLDT network’s coverage is even more vast and capable in delivering more services to customers. “We can now accommodate the bigger bandwidth needs of our customers with VDSL not just providing 2mbps but in fact 20mbps, and we have launched diverse products ranging from postpaid and prepaid variants, and even a combination of the two.” He also describes the “consumerization of fiber” in the home as a direct offshoot of PLDT’s early pioneering efforts in using fiber optics to connect corporate systems to the telco infrastructure. PLDT fiber now passes 2 million homes for enviable Internet speed and service: it is relatively “easy” to fiber-connect a building, taking less than two days. As always, the customer drives everything at PLDT, and burgeoning mobile interconnectivity demands are one of its best examples. “Today PLDT 3G covers 70% of the country; by the end of the year that will increase to 100%,” he says. He describes the swift customer evolution from voice to data as something akin to a giant ravenous appetite. Today customers are decidedly more mobile, devouring multimedia content such as HD video, games, streaming music and radio. And they have less and less patience waiting for all that to load. This is why PLDT is concentrating on the next chapters of the customer journey: 4G and LTE. “As a matter of fact you could say that PLDT ‘leapfrogged’ into LTE,” says Mr. Peña who explains that PLDT 4G and LTE is aimed at 25% coverage for the “top cities and municipalities” of the country. The Network of Speed and Accuracy It is exactly this determined focus on the customer that has redefined the present image of the PLDT network as one of speed and accuracy. “We don’t just build technologies for the sake of it. The reason why we have all these solutions is so we can cater to different types of customers,” Mr. Peña adds that the Philippine situation, with its smaller middle and upper classes, is far removed from that of Singapore, Malaysia, or Hong Kong with more substantial upper market tiers. Middle and top markets are very similar in product and performance demands and so the providers in those The reason why we have all these solutions is so we can cater to different types of customers. countries concentrate on premium offerings. “We have to serve a wider swath of customer segments in the Philippines,” Mr. Peña describes the PLDT focus to find the best solution for a more diverse range of customer in both retail and corporate realms. And perhaps this is the secret why so many of the leading technology and business organizations wish to partner up from the Philippines. It’s because they have so much to learn from serving an emerging and dynamic market, and these lessons can be readily profitably applied to other similar environments. Doing it Together Alliances have become such a renewed priority, especially in the M2M (Machine to Machine) sphere. For Mr. Peña, it is essential to delivering excellent customer experiences that are centered on quality and consistency. “An ‘intelligent’ vending machine which say, ‘senses’ your softdrink preferences can serve you better,” he says. “And you can expect that better, more consistent service anywhere you may be in the ASEAN region.” A consistently good customer experience acquires even more significance up the value chain and into industrial applications. “The recent PLDT and Oracle cloud partnership delivers established branding (Oracle) and quality of hardware, as well as the reach and reliability of a leading network (PLDT),” he says. The Oracle user interface and experience is already a well-established one among most of the top PLDT enterprise customers, and a single point of contact also adds points to ease of use and consistent quality assurances. “As we partner with companies like Oracle and bundle their services with ours, customers won’t need to talk to separate people or companies and at the same time we can have a bigger and longer lasting relationship with our customers.” Tomorrow: The Network of Dominance Mr. Peña reveals that one of the main reasons BPOs prefer to locate in the country is the proven resiliency of the PLDT network. And that should extend to more industries as PLDT continues on in building a network centered on “dominance”. “When we talk about dominance, we talk about the reach of our services, the quality of delivery, and the integrity of the infrastructure we build,” and for him, PLDT network dominance will be just as important to individual users, SMEs, and major enterprises alike. As a last word, he enjoins the entire PLDT, SMART, and SUN divisions together with key partners and allies towards maximizing potentials to reach this network dominance. “We must create the ultimate delivery infrastructure that provides consistently good customer services that are centered on absolute reliability and better pricing.” Because, he adds, that’s what customers are always clamouring for and as we’ve seen, the customer is always first at PLDT. THE ORACLE SPEAKS How the partnership between PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and Oracle redefine enterprise cloud deployments In the dizzying and (some would say) relatively confusing swirl of cloud adoption, enterprise organizations are looking for the best-integrated systems, and tools with an eagerness to avoid complexities and operational logjams. If one may apply the term to cloud computing, the new PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and Oracle collaboration comes closest to delivering a “holistic” cloud strategy for businesses. T he Director of Strategic Initiatives for Oracle ASEAN, Joaquin (Jack) Arambulo, cites the considerable US $ 50 billion Oracle has invested in acquiring more than 90 companies in the last five years. This aggressive acquisition strategy complements Oracle’s US $ 24 billion investment towards Research and Development (R&D) since 2004. “If we don’t own it, but it makes sense to have it, we’ll buy it,” he says with quiet confidence. This game plan has given Oracle a unique and complete “stack” (with layers from bottom to top) of storage, servers, virtual machines, operating systems, databases, middleware, and enterprise applications. Among its latest and most notable acquisitions is Sun Microsystems, which now bolsters the foundation layers of the stack. These layers form the upper limit of the cloud migration plan for most Philippine enterprise organizations, defining their effective cloud horizon. Taking the Longer View on the Cloud Inevitably, as they reach the point of database integration and the higher complexities of middleware and applications management, some organizations realize that a “longer view” of cloud adoption is absolutely necessary. A top-down rather than a bottom-up approach really makes more sense. For Oracle, cloud adoption must be approached an Applications-driven approach. According to Mr. Arambulo, the whole point of Oracle’s push for cloud integration is to give customers more deployment options. With consolidation and virtualization emerging as alternatives to traditional on-premise and server-based data centers, customers are now faced with a sense of complexity from multiple-vendor point solutions. Oracle’s aim is to make everything easier for enterprise customers at every step of cloud adoption, working towards a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). “From storage to applications, we’ve been buying hardware and software across all layers of the system stack. We’ve evaluated and integrated each value proposition, ultimately making it simpler for enterprise customers to use.” Oracle not only offers perhaps the largest suite of hardware and software applications, it also has industry-specific applications that serve six (6) key vertical industries: communications, financial services, health sciences, insurance, retail, and utilities. For each, as with its packaged applications, Oracle’s solutions aim not just to provide traditional back-end operational support but also to likewise lay the foundation for a more transformative, integrated, and intelligent business systems. According to him, Oracle is all about “Simplifying IT.” The first phase of its complete road map seems easy enough, since it involves winning over adherents to a no-nonsense proposition: simplify IT and decrease operating costs. The key to that will be helping corporations move to the virtual hybrid clouds that have the highest forecasted rate of adoption by the year 2015, or about 29% of enterprise organizations. Private clouds will still follow close behind at 27%; the public cloud will be at just 7%. Private clouds enjoy the distinct advantage of extending security and control out into a larger environment that now includes the cloud service provider as well, namely PLDT. In effect, as Oracle simplifies IT for companies, it will also reduce the complexity of integrating various solutions and platforms– helping companies achieve faster time to market and lower cost of operations. In addition, it will also extract maximum value and performance with existing software. Beyond the Horizon While others may offer different layers of the stack, nobody really brings it under one roof. “Rather than enterprise customers buying piecemeal solutions and then assembling and somehow getting it all to work together themselves, we can do it all for them,” Mr. Arambulo says. “By doing the hardware and software integration work ourselves, in the factory, we are able to achieve our common objective-- to lower installation and configuration costs, and reduce ongoing maintenance complexity and costs. Think of this as a car. Would you assemble one yourself, or would you buy one ready to PLDT is the natural fit as Oracle’s cloud partner in the Philippines. be driven out of the showroom?” It all seems to dovetail nicely with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s natural position as the trusted expert end-to-end ICT partner for enterprise at every stage of growth and for every facet of operations. The faster worldwide adoption of the hybrid cloud will be a trend that will no doubt find its fair share of adherents here. For its part, Oracle had to search for the most worthy telco providers in each country of the ASEAN region, identifying those telcos with the same core values– around delighting the customers and offering the best solutions and services possible. The telco providers’ existing network infrastructure, such as virtual private networks or VPNs, is a complementary offering, for sure, and is an added bonus that is an absolute leverage. A “Natural Fit” “PLDT is the natural fit as Oracle’s cloud partner in the Philippines,” Mr. Arambulo explains, “because of it’s PLDT ALPHA Enterprise organization, its continuing focus on being a ‘Trusted Adviser’, as well as its largest real network backbone in the country.” For Oracle, PLDT was more than an obvious choice. He added that PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and Oracle share a considerably large customer base. In fact they’re nearly identical, with 48 out of 50 large organizations using both PLDT and Oracle solutions. For these remarkable synergies, Oracle arrived at certain unprecedented arrangements with PLDT becoming a Gold Oracle Partner Network (OPN) partner. “We call it ‘business unusual’ simply because this is one of the rarest time an Oracle team sells with an organization and not just to an organization,” Mr. Arambulo says. “Ultimately its about getting the best Oracle has to offer, hosted on the PLDT Cloud.” One of the key benefits of this collaboration is that Oracle’s cloud-based solutions offered by PLDT now yield corporate customers with specific service level agreements (SLAs). Reflecting further on the PLDT ALPHA Enterprise-Oracle collaboration, Mr. Arambulo appreciates PLDT’s expertise and dedication to serve customers better. “They are very smart, hungry for new products and services while being acutely aware of what customers want. I see PLDT’s commitment to add value and become a ‘Trusted Adviser’, as key driving virtues.” “For our part we bring them a whole bunch of customer-tried-and-tested products that will work best in different deployment environments,” he concludes. In the end, Oracle’s range, and depth of offerings will be definitive trumps for both PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and PLDT Cloud customers everywhere. (above) Joaquin "Jack" Arambulo smiles as he explains Oracle’s longsighted view on cloud deployments. Y WERE YOU THERE WERE YOU THERE Were OU There 2 1 READY FOR THE EXTREME CLOUD PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE, ePLDT, AND ORACLE OFFER THE FIRST TOTAL INTEGRATED CLOUD SOLUTION FOR PHILIPPINE BUSINESSES The country’s top business leaders convened at the prestigious Tower Club in Makati to witness the fruition of the unprecedented alliance between PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, ePLDT, and Oracle. This was in the form of the new Oracle cloud-based solutions, hosted and offered via the PLDT Cloud. Titled “A New Cloud is Forming”, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, ePLDT, and Oracle unveiled a peerless array of PLDT Cloud services running on an Oracle-engineered, high-performance cloud infrastructure: Database as a Service (DBaaS), Middleware as a Service (MWaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). This will be the first time, in fact, that the Oracle cloud will be locally hosted. These solutions as well as Oracle’s and PLDT’s partnership framework were explained through key presentations by PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, ePLDT and Oracle. To further illustrate the nature of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s and Oracle’s alliance, PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International, and Carrier Business and ePLDT President and CEO Eric Alberto recalled Oracle President Mark Hurd’s simple but wholly accurate analogy to buying a car. “As said by Mr. Hurd: when we go to a car dealer and make our purchase”, he said, “we do not buy in bits—the 1,001 pieces that make up the vehicle. A car or any other expertly built product is an assemblage of components and--most importantly— expertise and support that make up its entirety. The credible proposition for the cloud therefore is putting together 1001 IT elements. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and Oracle in unison can confidently deliver you that package, especially when we expect it to become bigger or more complex in the near term.” In his presentation, Oracle’s Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Asia Pacific William Lee said that the PLDT and Oracle “Extreme Performance Cloud” is set to realize “much more value in the Philippines” for enterprise organizations. “Everything we offer today is bootable and set up, ready and running in just a matter of minutes”, he said. “Everything just works. The software is already prebuilt and pre-configured. This means you eliminate all the risk.” Aside from the educational presentations, attendees were treated to a delectable lunch while they networked with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, ePLDT, and Oracle representatives. A lucky few were even treated to raffle prizes in the form of Jeepney Café gift certificates and iPad Mini units. This event symbolizes the beginning of a revolution for local enterprises: where organizations can finally consider cloud computing as a viable and long-term part of their overall IT strategy. Be sure to expect much more in the near future from PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, ePLDT, and Oracle. 3 1. From L-R: Oracle Director, Strategic Initiatives, ASEAN Jack Arambulo, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise IP & Data Center Category Head Gary Ignacio, Oracle VP/Head, Systems Channels, Asia Pacific Edwin Yeo, Oracle Director, Key Accounts Program Director, ASEAN Gerry Lim, Oracle Philippines Managing Director Mina Lim, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Product Manager Francis Arjonillo, PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International and Carrier Business Eric Alberto, and Oracle Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Asia Pacific William Lee 2. William Lee has the attendee's full attention as he talks about Oracle’s cloud strategy. 3. PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez speaks about how Oracle perfectly complements PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s vision of becoming the trusted end-to-end ICT partner of Philippine enterprise. 4. Representatives from PLDT and Oracle smile for the camera prior to the contract signing ceremony. 5. PLDT and ePLDT Executives mingles with guests before the start of the event. 6. PLDT AVP and Head of Corporate Business Solutions Nico Alcoseba presents to the audience the PLDT Cloud portfolio, with the addition of the Oracle-based solutions. 7. Oracle Senior Director William Lee talks about Oracle’s Strategy with its Stack and Engineered Systems. 8. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Product Manager for PLDT Cloud Francis Arjonillo reveals PLDT’s membership in Oracle’s Asia Pacific “Carrier Grade” Cloud Alliance. 4 5 7 6 8 WERE YOU THERE WERE YOU THERE 2 3 4 5 6 1 7 PLDT AT THE MANILA GAME SHOW – BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE FOR BETTER GAMES PLDT Head of Corporate Relationship Business Kent de la Calzada was among the industry experts invited to speak in the panel forum ‘The Philippines Game and Creative Content’, part of the Game and Creative Contents Networking Philippines 2014 event held at the Peninsula Hotel Manila. The panel featured discussions on the future of the Philippine game and creative content industry, focusing on its growth and possible market expansion. Japanese game developers and publishers were invited to attend in order to assess the Philippines’ position as a promising market for their games. During his talk, De la Calzada noted how the large gaming population in the country can be better served by industry players. The youth make up over 40% of the Philippine’s 100 million-strong population; however only a few are actively playing online games. De la Calzada advised the game publishers: “You have the game and there is a huge, untapped market -- the critical link to complete the formula is the internet.” PLDT has made great strides in terms of enhancing internet access. Apart from the expansion of its broadband access networks on both wired and wireless platforms, PLDT has been intensifying DSL capacity in its landline network by maximizing existing technologies and introducing next generation facilities. The expansion of SMART Communications has also led to even wider wireless broadband coverage nationwide. These are further supplemented by infrastructure enhancements such as the continued expansion of PLDT’s domestic fiber optic network, and investments in cable landing stations and international cable systems, as well as the VITRO network of data centers. PLDT’s strategic partnership with Japan’s NTT Communications and NTT Docomo also plays an important role in further strengthening PLDT’s capabilities to serve the gaming industry, with NTT’s global network of data centers providing connection resiliency and data protection – enhancements perfect for creating a great gaming experience. 3. PLDT Representatives meet with Board of Investments Governor Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. 4. Kent de la Calzada, Board of Investments Governor Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr., and NTT Executive Advisor Masahiko Tsuchiya 5. Kent de la Calzada and Jomari Mercado 6. Many of the delegates took the opportunity to network and meet the representatives of PLDT and NTT during the event 8 1. 2. The engrossed guests of the Game and Creative Contents Networking Philippines 2014 listen to one of the event’s riveting presentations. PLDT Corporate Relationship Business Head Kent de la Calzada (3rd from left) with (from L-R) NTT Senior Advisor Nobuyuki Fujii, PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager MG Librojo, ASEAN-JAPAN CENTRE Secretary General Yoshikuni Ohnishi, NTT Executive Advisor Masahiko Tsuchiya, PLDT Corporate Relationship Business Head Ben Melasa, PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Jun Tacneng, PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Rolly Animo, and PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Product Manager for VITRO Data Center Miguel Gonzalez 7-8. Kent de la Calzada talks about PLDT extensive capabilities that can support the expansion and growth of the gaming industry. WERE YOU THERE WERE YOU THERE 2 3 4 5 1. The speakers lead a panel discussion on the importance of business continuity planning at the Cebu leg. 2. Event attendees pay close attention to the informative presentation on the state of Philippine disaster preparedness. 3. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Product Manager for VITRO Data Center Miguel Gonzalez talks about how enterprises can integrate VITRO Data Center as part of their business continuity strategy. 4. NgKhai Development Corporation President and Owner Wilson Ng delivers the keynote speech for the Cebu leg. 5. PLDT IP and Data Center Product Management Category Head Gary Ignacio gives attendees an overview of VITRO Data Center’s various features. 6. Philippine Red Cross Governor Atty. Adolfo Reyes delivers the keynote speech for the Subic leg. 7. Gary Ignacio, seated with his fellow panelists, addresses a question from the audience in the Subic leg. 8. Gary Ignacio (1st from left), PLDT Corporate Relationship Business Head for North Luzon Onald David (2nd from left), and PLDT Corporate Relationship Management Head Boy Castañeda (1st from right) stand with one of the day’s lucky raffle prize winners. 1 10 BUILDING A “BUSINESS CERTAIN PHILIPPINES” PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE’S “WEATHERING THE NEXT BIG ONE” EVENTS GAVE CEBU AND SUBIC BASED COMPANIES A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEED FOR BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANS As the Philippines braces for more extreme weather and possible disasters, businesses around the country are seriously reconsidering Business Continuity Plans (BCP). To educate large businesses outside the Metro on disaster preparedness and business continuity, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise hosted a series of events entitled “Weathering the Next Big One: Business Continuity and Why it Matters”. The event had two legs, both of which were held at venues near a VITRO Data Center site. Each leg’s keynote speaker gave insightful talks on disaster preparedness and provided eye-opening statistics. The Cebu segment had NgKhai Development Corporation’s Wilson Ng as its keynote speaker. For the Subic segment, Atty. Rodolfo Reyes of the Philippine Red Cross served as that day’s keynote speaker. Through talks and in-depth panel discussions, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s IP and Data Center team illustrated the benefits of incorporating the VITRO Data Center as part of an organization’s BCP. Attendees were also given an exclusive guided tour of the VITRO Data Centers in Cebu and Subic to further understand how VITRO becomes an integral part of their business operations. “One key factor in measuring the success of a business organization is how resilient they are against disasters,” says PLDT Head of IP and Data Center Product Management Gary Ignacio. “With these informative events held in Cebu and Subic, we encourage every business in the country to prepare for the inevitable by employing the power of the VITRO Data Center.” What were once rare occurrences have become inevitable events. With the help of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Data Center and ICT solutions portfolio, Cebu and Subic-based companies are now empowered to keep their business up and running by ensuring that their data is kept safe and ready with unprecedented business continuity. Now, they are ready to better face disasters and other disruptive threats more than ever. 7 8 9 11 12 9-12. Audience members actively engage our experts on-stage in the question and answer portion of the event. 13. 13 The Corporate Relationship Management team of Cebu together with the IP and Data Center Management team flash the ALPHA sign at the conclusion of the highly successful event. 6 WERE YOU THERE WERE YOU THERE 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 10 11 THE STRONGER VOICE OF ENTERPRISE PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF WORLD-CLASS ENTERPRISE VOICE SOLUTIONS, AND HOW THEY SPELL THE DIFFERENCE FOR FUTURE BUSINESS TO A RECEPTIVE CEBU AUDIENCE Recently, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise hosted Cebu-based enterprise organizations at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cebu City as part of the “Enterprise Voice of the Future” roadshow. Attendees got an exclusive glimpse into enhanced business operations made possible through the strengthened PLDT ALPHA Enterprise voice solutions portfolio. It was clearly an eye-opener for Cebu’s forward-thinking business leaders. Voice solutions, some of them now based in the cloud, were set to transform enterprise operations anew. The event began with opening remarks by PLDT AVP - Business Head for Corporate Relationship Business - VisMin Mr. Jimmy Chua. This was then followed by an overview presentation by PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Head of Enterprise Voice Category Ms. Fay Ocampo. From there on, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Product Managers gave in-depth presentations on numerous PLDT ALPHA Enterprise voice solutions. Ms. Michelle Sy kicked things off with her presentation of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s SIP Trunks solution, which deployed through multiple sites across the country enables easier communications at significantly lower costs. She was followed by Mr. Carlos Octavio, who revealed new benefits to businesses arising from PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Domestic and International Toll Free solution, what he calls the perfect platform for better customer service. Taking the voice-driven business conversation further, Ms. Lara Tubino spoke about how companies can easily and seamlessly communicate using voice, video, and data via PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Managed Unified Communications (UC) solution. This was followed by Mr. Angelo Sison’s demonstration of the PLDT Cloud Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), a cloud-based and flexible UC solution that optimizes the Bring-YourOwn-Device (BYOD) trend. Relating the discussion to outsourcing for the benefit of the numerous attendees representing Cebu’s contact centers, Mr. Ferdinand Magpayo showed how they can easily scale operations up and down, based on fluctuating seasonal needs, on an easier pay-per-minute-per-application pricing basis, via the PLDT Cloud Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS). He was followed by Mr. Joey Torregoza, who demonstrated the flexibility that Cosmocom’s contact center solutions could bring to BPO operations. Mr. John Lao capped things off by showcasing the various applications of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Conferencing Suite solution, which allows individuals and organizations from multiple locations around the world to effectively collaborate and communicate seamlessly. Later that evening everybody got an even better opportunity to learn more about these solutions. They tested the different solutions through live product demonstrations from the venue’s numerous booths amidst musical entertainment and a scrumptious dinner spread. During the raffle draw, some attendees were lucky enough to win TW Steel watches, Pocket WiFi units, and other items. “We are glad to have this opportunity to exchange ideas with our Cebu-based enterprise customers. Mainly these ideas relate to how we can further elevate their business collaboration, customer relations management, and other vital functions through our portfolio,” says Ms. Ocampo. “Strengthening their communications capabilities always ensures better customer service as well as higher competitiveness in the regional and global business arenas.” “Cebu is just the beginning,” adds Ms. Ocampo. “We’re taking the roadshow to Davao in the near future. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reach out to other parts of the country as well.” With a better understanding of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s voice solutions, enterprise organizations in Cebu (and soon in other parts of the Philippines) are now well-equipped and better-informed to face a business future powered by PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s various voice solutions. 6 9 12 13 1. The M Lhuillier MIS team listens to a presentation at one of the many product demonstration booths. 8. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Tayen Canoy and Cherry Allego of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa. 2. PLDT AVP and Business Head for Corporate Relationship Business VisMin Mr. Jimmy Chua kicked things off, delivering the event’s opening remarks. 9. Attendees tried out the IP phones PLDT ALPHA Enterprise provides for their Managed UC and PLDT Cloud UCaaS offerings. 3. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Voice Category Head Ms. Fay Ocampo gave attendees an extensive overview of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s voice solutions portfolio. 4. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Michael Eparwa with Hani Araj of Medcor. 5. iComm International representatives check out the PLDT ALPHA Enterprise conferencing suite booth. 6. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Mikee Sy (1st from left) and Caloy Octavio (1st from right) show attendees PLDT’s IP Phones in action. 7. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Dallie Dela Pena (3rd from left) with guests from Talleo. 10. Charnel Catipay and Ron Anthony Castillo of RMG Management with PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Oamar Tabiliran. 11. PLDT Corporate Relationship Manager Beth Villaflor (center) with John Flores and Riann Banez of Icomm International. 12. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Angelo Sison shows interested attendees the mobility capabilities of PLDT Cloud UCaaS. 13. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Corporate Relationship Management and Enterprise Voice Management teams smile for the camera at the conclusion conclusion of the Cebu leg of the Enterprise Voice Roadshow. DFON MAKES THE DIFFERENCE PLDT’s DFON expansion in Palawan translates to real tangible benefits to a diversifying and evolving local economy W ell known for its scenic aquamarine coastline and premium resorts, the province of Palawan on the westernmost Philippine frontier is also looking at building a more diversified modern economy. That future economy has to be one based on modern services and businesses, and it can’t do that on the old relatively antiquated Microwave Radio system it has used for the past few decades. Absolutely essential in building a forward-looking economy, Palawan’s modern connections will have to be absolutely reliable, easier to maintain, and able to operate in an all-weather capacity. It must also be flexible and scalable enough to accommodate inevitable growth. This is why PLDT’s Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON), already the country’s largest and most robust fiber backbone has expanded to Palawan, effectively providing an additional island capacity of 40G bandwidth that is easily expandable to 100G. It is now the primary telecommunications infrastructure of Palawan, with the old microwave radio relegated to a more appropriate role as a backup system. The history of PLDT’s unmatched investments in hardware, solutions, and people is already well known as a catalyst for national economic development and transformation. PLDT DFON plays a key role as the consolidated transport backbone of the PLDT Group, delivering globalclass connectivity solutions such as Carrier Ethernet Services, IP VPN, Premium Internet, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) services. Since DFON’s inception, enterprise customers have enjoyed access to highquality voice, data, and multimedia services through its seven major loops and four subtending loops with default ring configurations that provide route protection in case of any breaks within the loops. This yields an unprecedented operating capacity of 4.78 tbps and 78,000 kilometers of submarine and in-land fiber optic cable. The increased speed and accuracy of the data network has significant implications for the economy and living standards of the residents of Palawan. In addition to this, PLDT’s three international cable-landing stations - namely the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) and the Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 3 (SMW3) at Nasugbu, Batangas; the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) at Bauang, La Union; and the Asia Submarinecable Express (ASE) at Daet in Camarines Norte - get their international backhaul connectivity from DFON. It’s all part of assuring PLDT clients with stable, reliable connections to overseas locations. Palawan to the World Photo Across: PLDT VP and Head of Corporate Relationship Management Boy Castañeda, P uerto Princesa City Mayor Cecil Bayron, and PLDT SME Nation Head for Luzon SME Sales Anthony Fernandez officially complete the Palawan link to PLDT’s Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON). The newest addition to PLDT’s DFON, Palawan’s network, consists of 620 kilometers of state-of-the-art inland fiber optic and submarine cables, the result of a total investment of PHP 1B. In real terms, the 40G bandwidth expansion enables approximately 160,000 contact center seats, or 41 million POS transactions, or 5.1 million ATM transactions—this certainly goes a long way in diversifying and transforming the Palawan economy. Because of this, the ICT tools businesses use to leverage new trends like cloud services, data center virtualization, video and collaboration are now available to Palawan’s enterprise sector. This gives them a much-needed edge in a more globalized and therefore competitive business arena, an especially significant consideration given impending ASEAN economic integration targeted for 2015. DFON enables them with flexible, secured, scalable services with guaranteed uptime. PLDT’s intentionally futureproofed platform, with its potential to expand to 100G capacity, is absolutely vital for the future of Palawan. As PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez noted, “It is these benefits of speed, accuracy, flexibility, and expandability that spells the significant difference of PLDT’s considerable ICT infrastructure commitment to Palawan. We live in a truly globalized business and social community that spans the world, requiring consistently higher quality experiences at every stage of transaction and interaction. This DFON Palawan initiative delivers on that set of global standards and more, and it certainly won’t be the last.” Page Caught on PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE AND CCAC SIGN ICT PARTNERSHIP The Concepcion-Carrier Air Conditioning Company (CCAC), the leading air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions supplier in the Philippines, has reaffirmed its partnership with PLDT’s corporate arm, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, in a recent contract signing ceremony. PLDT’s long-standing working relationship with Concepcion Industrial Corporation, CCAC’s parent company, centers on providing mission-critical ICT solutions. CCAC became the first PLDT ALPHA Enterprise client to sign up for Microsoft Office 365 Softwareas-a-Service (SaaS), a new offering in PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s portfolio of cloud services which was introduced last February 2014. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s subsidiary ePLDT is an accredited Microsoft Managed Reseller. PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez reiterated the value of this historic relationship in his opening remarks: “We’ve been partners for a long time, and we are particularly pleased about today, as we embark on a deeper collaboration in the SaaS (Software as a Service) side of our business. This is in line with our objective of not only serving our customers with our legacy voice and bandwidth services, but truly becoming the trusted end-to-end expert ICT partner of the enterprise market." In its bid to stay competitive and maintain its status as a market leader, CCAC has recognized the need to further optimize its systems through ICT, tapping PLDT ALPHA Enterprise as its key ICT partner. Under the latest agreement, PLDT will deploy the cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 throughout CCAC’s operations. Its scalability, mobility, and cost control aspects are major reasons for its appeal, according to CCAC Director Sean Byrne. “Setting up our cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 suite is miles ahead of rolling out a similar desktop solution on our own. We can be up and running within 7 days, and remain always on the leading edge with SaaS,” he commented. CCAC CFO Victoria Betita said, “We chose PLDT for the stability of their organization. Not many businesses have been around for such a long time, as Concepcion has. PLDT is very solid and stable; they’ve long been a market leader in cloud technology and all other services. And their skill and expertise are clear to see, as well as their support for us. It’s clearly a win-win situation.” (From L-R) 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, CCAC Director Sean Byrne, and CCAC CFO Victoria Betita PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE, EASTWEST BANK PARTNER TO TRANSFORM BANKING VISION INTO ICT REALITY EastWest Bank, a major player in the Philippine banking industry, has chosen PLDT ALPHA Enterprise as its partner in revolutionizing its ICT systems given the latter’s expertise and proven track record in supplying end-toend ICT solutions. As the fifth largest credit card issuer and the sixth largest auto-financing provider in the country, EastWest Bank recognizes the need for advanced technology to spur its growth even further. With this partnership, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, together with sister company SMART Enterprise, has deployed a formidable array of solutions in EastWest Bank. These include direct lines, direct inward dialing/direct outward dialing (DID/DOD), domestic and international toll-free, private leased circuits, PLDT Shops.Work Unplugged (SWUP), IP VPN, and SMART Enterprise Wireless Broadband. Currently, EastWest Bank is considering disaster recovery and mass text message broadcast solutions (also known as Netcast) to add to its roster of ICT solutions provided by PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. “We are satisfied with PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s solutions because they are especially flexible and scalable, designed for EastWest Bank’s rapid expansion goals. These solutions help us maintain the good relationships we have with our clients. With more dependable communication lines, our customers can always count on EastWest Bank to help them with their different needs,” said EastWest President and CEO Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr. “The peace of mind provided by a reliable ICT network is invaluable to us. Banks heavily rely on the customer’s trust. When they encounter no difficulty in contacting our customer service hotline, it gives the impression that their needs are prioritized and easily addressed. If customers feel that their concerns are given priority, then their confidence in EastWest Bank strengthens. We thank PLDT ALPHA Enterprise for helping us make that possible,” said FVP and Head of EastWest Information Technology Group Randy A. Evangelista. “We are proud to partner with EastWest Bank – they have been very aggressive and innovative in the banking industry in recent years, especially with their branches expansion and thrust in electronic banking. We anticipate significant and mutually beneficial outcomes from this growing partnership, and PLDT is gratified to have been entrusted to serve the overall ICT needs of EastWest Bank, and enable this remarkable institution's efforts to compete and lead in the top sphere,” said PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International and Carrier Business Eric R. Alberto. “We are grateful to EastWest Bank for choosing us as their trusted endto-end expert ICT partner. We are truly astonished by the organization’s remarkable growth throughout the years. We share their vision of success both in the local and regional arenas. With that, we are excited to collaborate with them, and create the future unmatched ICT solutions that will transform their vision into reality,” said PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez. PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez, PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International and Carrier Business Eric R. Alberto, EastWest Bank President and CEO Tony Moncupa, and EastWest Bank FVP and Head of EastWest Information Technology Group Randy Evangelista JULY 2014 PLDT ALPHA ENTERPRISE BOLSTERS SUPPORT FOR ASIA CEO AWARDS 2014 PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, the leading telecoms service provider’s corporate business group, is increasing its support of the highly prestigious Asia CEO Awards as it becomes the title sponsor for this year’s event, which features the theme ‘Emerging Asia’. The announcement was made during the official media launch of Asia CEO Awards 2014 held at the Raffles and Fairmont Hotel in Makati. Attended by top executives from PLDT as well as from other sponsors including SPi Global, SMART Communications, SHORE Solutions, Oracle, NEC, Meralco, KPMG, King's School Manila, Jones Lang LaSalle, and FirstCarbon Solutions, the launch signaled the opening of the nomination period for the much-coveted accolades. While PLDT ALPHA Enterprise has been an ardent supporter of the Asia CEO Awards in the past years, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez shared that this is the perfect moment to further bolster its support of the event. “We believe that 2014 is the year that the country becomes a major player in the global marketplace, and as the leader of our industry, we are honored to take the lead in celebrating the best business minds,” said Hernandez. “Of course, we will continue to support all initiatives to place the Philippines in the center of the world stage to display the Filipino’s boundless talents.” The Asia CEO Awards gives recognition to the most extraordinary leaders who have made exemplary contributions to their organizations and the Philippine business community, and further elevated the country’s position as a premier business destination. One of the biggest and most anticipated events of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, the Awards is an offshoot of the Asia CEO Forum -- the largest regular networking event for the business community in Philippines. The Asia CEO Awards has 10 categories celebrating outstanding achievements by top business leaders: Oracle Technology Company of the Year; CSR Company of the Year; SPi Global Young Leader of the Year; SHORE Solutions Most Innovative Company; NEC Quality Company; Jones Lang LaSalle Expatriate Executive of the Year; SMART Communications Global Filipino Executive; Meralco Top Employer Organization; KPMG Executive Leadership Team; and the PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Lifetime Contributor Award. This year, the awards also feature two new categories: the Hospitality Award and First Carbon Solutions Green Company of the Year. The winners of the Awards will be selected by the Board of Judges led by its chairman Richard Mills. The judging panel is comprised of the leading names in business and academe including renowned economist Dr. Bernie Villegas; Don Felbaum, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines; Edward Chang, president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines; Oscar Sanez, San Miguel Vice President for International; Architect Jun Palafox, former president of the Management Association of the Philippines; and Nobuo Fujii, Vice President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines. The winners of the Asia CEO Awards will be announced during the gala dinner on November 12, 2014 at the grand ballroom of Solaire Resort and Casino. Interested parties may visit the Asia CEO Forum website at http://asia-ceo.org for more details. Celebrating business excellence: Asia CEO Forum’s Richard Mills (leftmost) and PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Jovy Hernandez (8th from left) lead a toast during the launch of the 2014 Asia CEO Awards. CONEXUS TO MAKE COORDINATED M2M PUSH CONEXUS, the pioneering mobile provider alliance for the Southeast Asian region, has outlined a comprehensive action plan for enterprise Machine-to-Machine applications during its 1st Conexus M2M Summit held last May 29, 2014 at the Dusit Hotel of Makati City, Philippines. The adoption of M2M solutions for enterprise has been gathering noticeable momentum as better device integration and overall improved connectivity, among other favorable factors, have already earned its share of adherents within the business community. Quickly emerging are more applications targeting specific industry verticals. In response, SMART Enterprise hosted the 1st CONEXUS M2M Summit with certain objectives in mind. These were primarily focused on the sharing of best practices; to learn and absorb these lessons; define region-specific needs on IoE (Internet of Everything); discover new evolution paths for M2M; promote M2M synergy across CONEXUS members; and monitor upcoming M2M and IoE trends. IoE is seen as the ultimate direction that the M2M movement is heading towards, as the former represents an ideal integration of connected sensors, devices and assets that already fulfill existing M2M enterprise values of automation, reliability, and real-time monitoring. “Imagine utility companies that can ‘heal’ their systems automatically through sensors and machines, or think of customer issues responded to accurately and instantly— customer SLAs will vastly improve,” said PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez. “These are just some of the dramatic shifts in service standards and performance M2M and IoE promise. And together with our valued partners at CONEXUS, SMART Enterprise will make it a top priority for the benefit of Philippine and regional businesses.” SMART Enterprise Marketing Head Chet Alviz explained how SMART Enterprise M2M has already made the “vertical leap across various industries”, specifically Government, Banking and Finance, Utilities, Media, Retail, Health and Pharma, as well as Consumer Goods. “Whether it be for real time inventory management, tighter sales information coordination, or workforce management and others, SMART M2M solutions will redraw the map of business efficiency and the standards of quality endcustomer experiences.” (From L-R) SMART Enterprise Product Development Head Pearl Santos; NTT Docomo NTT-International and Business Center Senior Business Development Advisor Toshiaki Osugi; NTT Docomo Assistant Manager Global Business Division Kenichi Takabayashi; SMART Enterprise Head of Wireless Marketing Chet Alviz; PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and Marketing Jovy Hernandez; SMART Communications FVP for Innovation and Product Development Melissa Limcaoco; FarEasTone Cloud and Business Alliance Enterprise Business Unit Director Jeff Chen; Starhub Product Manager for M2M Daniel Wee Shan Ting; Indosat Division Head for M2M Hendra Sumiarsa; SMART Communications VP for Innovation and Product Development Jane Quiambao; and SMART Enterprise Product Manager for M2M and Enterprise Mobility Gio Abaquin JULY 2014 PLDT SOLIDIFIES CLOUD LEADERSHIP WITH ORACLE INFRASTRUCTURE, DATABASE AND MIDDLEWARE HOSTED IN PLDT CLOUD PLDT, a leading telecommunications service provider in the Philippines, today announced that they would be offering Database as a Service (DBaaS), Middleware as a Service (MWaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) services in the country. The services will be hosted on Oracle’s Engineered Systems to provide high performance computing to enterprise and government customers. Companies can pay a monthly subscription for the services through PLDT’s corporate business group, PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. The PLDT Group is one of the largest users of Oracle Database and Oracle Engineered Systems in the Philippines. “PLDT has a long standing association with Oracle and we use them to power our business. It is certainly fitting to offer products to our customers that we ourselves use, because of their proven reliability and performance. The new services at PLDT Cloud are the result of a close working relationship with Oracle and we aim to leverage our expertise with Oracle to help local companies transform into world class enterprises. Cloud computing has certainly made modernization of business much more simple and affordable,” said Eric Alberto, Group President and CEO of ePLDT and Executive Vice-President of PLDT. “At PLDT ALPHA Enterprise, we are always listening to our customers and challenging ourselves to innovate and meet those needs. Providing the world’s premiere Database and Middleware with flexible Cloud deployment models in PLDT Data Centers or in ‘On-Premises’ facilities, is certainly a game changer in the Philippines,” said Jovy Hernandez, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise and SMART Enterprise Sales and Marketing. “Oracle offers the most comprehensive portfolio of cloud solutions to its customers. PLDT is a leading Cloud Service Provider in the Philippines, providing high speed networks and the security of infrastructure through VITRO Data Centers. Oracle is delighted to work with PLDT in the Philippines and extending the Cloud value proposition to our customers,” said Sujith Abraham, Group Vice President, Strategy and Sales Development, Oracle Asia Pacific. The PLDT Cloud operates a fast and secure infrastructure for Government and Enterprise services across the Philippines leveraging the PLDT Group’s high-bandwidth telecommunications network and VITRO Data Center, the country’s first purpose-built industrial grade facility and 2013 Frost & Sullivan Awardee for Data Center Provider of the Year. PLDT’s Vitro Data Centers received the country’s first ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management System certification from Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), ensuring customers experience worldclass business continuity. PLDT is a Gold level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN). VITRO NETWORK OF DATA CENTERS, AT PAR WITH WORLD’S BEST, RECEIVES NEW ISO CERTIFICATION FOR IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT Ensuring that its VITRO network of data centers continues to be at par with the world’s best, ePLDT has successfully achieved VITRO’s first certification for the ISO 20000-1:2011 IT Service Management System standard. The certification was recently awarded by AJA Registrars, a renowned certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS). ISO 20000-1:2011 is the international standard for IT Service Management System, providing service providers with the framework for planning, implementing, and monitoring its service delivery. Through this certification, organizations ensure that they apply best practices in design and delivery to meet service requirements and provide value for their customers. “As an industry leader, it is important for us to not only offer and utilize cuttingedge technology, but also have resilient infrastructures that conform to global standards,” said Eric R. Alberto, ePLDT President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this certification, we are able to demonstrate that VITRO is truly a world-class data center network.” Aside from receiving its first ISO 20000-1:2011, VITRO has also received re-certifications for ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System (EMS), ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System (QMS), and ISO 27001:2005 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standards – all of which are applied to VITRO’s Pasig, Subic, and Cebu locations. VITRO is the first data center in the country to be certified for EMS; its Pasig data center is also the first to be certified for ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management System (BCMS). “Resiliency and reliability are highly integral to our operations,” shared Nerissa S. Ramos, ePLDT Chief Operating Officer. “These certifications are thus testaments to our management and key personnel’s unceasing dedication to ensure that we have these key elements to provide true security for the mission-critical data housed within our data center.” ePLDT Chief Technology Officer Dave Simon echoed this sentiment, noting the VITRO team’s commitment throughout the long certification process. “The team came together to evaluate current service management practices, and create a strategic service management delivery plan that provides the best value for our customers,” stressed Simon. “ISO certifications are a means for organizations to ensure its customers that it employs only the highest standards in its operations,” said Paul Bagatsing, Vice President and General Manager at AJA Registrars, Inc. “Having successfully achieved recertification for Environmental Management, Quality Management, and Information Security Management, as well as receiving its first IT Service Management System standard certification, VITRO has definitely made its mark as a first-rate data center network.” “The Enterprise Business is more and more becoming a BUSINESS OF TRUST.” stressed Jovy Hernandez, PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise. “Attaining these ISO certifications reflects our commitment to deliver the highest level of service so that our customers in turn will have confidence in entrusting to us their business.” VITRO Data Centers are located in key areas across the country and has almost 2,000 total capacity. VITRO provides a range of ICT services and solutions, from colocation and hosting to cloud-based data and information management. Receiving VITRO’s new ISO certifications from AJA Registrars, Inc. Vice President and General Manager Paul Bagatsing (center) are (L-R) PLDT FVP and Head of PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT Chief Technology Officer Dave Simon, PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise, International and Carrier Business and ePLDT President and CEO Eric Alberto, and ePLDT Group COO Nerisse Ramos. JULY 2014 oming C & GOING WINDSHIELD SOUND-BASED CLEANING SYSTEM McLaren believes that, for their high-performance supercars at least, windshield wipers are regrettably oldfashioned. To spice up the mundane old blades, the British automobile manufacturer is looking to adapt an electronic system used by fighter jets. According to McLaren, the system involves high-frequency sound waves that COMING In this section, HOT JOE puts on its Tech Forecaster hat and takes a look at the future are constantly active. Windshields would, theoretically, be continually clear and vision would never be obstructed by rain or the hypnotizing swish-swish-swish. Paul Wilcox, professor of ultrasonics at Bristol University's faculty of engineering, theorized: 'The obvious way of doing it is to have an ultrasonic transducer in the corner of the windscreen that would excite waves at around 30kHz to bounce across the windscreen.' Initially, you’ll need to shell out between 13,000,000 PHP to 69,000,000 PHP to get a McLaren sportscar with the bladeless windshield system, but once perfected it’s hoped that the system could be produced for the mass market for as little as 800 PHP. Sounds great to us. CROWD-FUNDING The chancy economy has made investors more risk-averse, resulting in little to no capital for less mainstream, less established entrepreneurs. On the other hand, startups are increasingly turning to crowd-funding instead of more traditional investment channels. Crowd-funding can get a project or venture swiftly off the ground by raising and pooling small sums from a large number of people, typically via the Internet on numerous crowd-funding platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, RocketHub, and RockThePost. The same general concept applies for any crowd-funding venture: project creators create a ‘pitch’, typically containing a short video, an introduction to their project, and visualizations of their concept. They invite viewers to invest – or donate – to their project, in return for rewards that are proportionate to their contributions. These can range from a commemorative bookmark, to special editions of the product in question, to special trips and meetings with the project creators. Of all the crowd-funding platforms, the most famous and successful is Kickstarter, which started as a site for quirky DIY/tinkerer projects. As of this writing, there have been $1,144,866,121 pledged to Kickstarter projects (yes, that’s more than a billion dollars); 149, 212 projects have been launched; and over six million backers have used the site to support their chosen projects. require the ability to communicate quickly and easily with pre-determined numbers. OwnFones don’t even have a screen or a number pad, much less a camera or 3G connectivity. Customers order the OwnFones with preset numbers of their choice assigned to the buttons on the OwnFone, and the braille-based OwnFones can only support two to four buttons. Because of its rare simplicity, the OwnFone can stay powered for a full year before needing a recharge. The game “Star Citizen” has, to date, raised over 46 million USD in crowdfunding, making it the highest-raising crowd-funded project ever. Image Source: http://starcitizen.wikia.com Similar soundwave-based applications are also used by dentists to remove plaque from teeth. BRAILLE PHONES UK company OwnFone has launched the world’s first braille phone. OwnFone’s Tom Sunderland claims that although there have been concept braille phones in the past, this is the first to actually go on sale. The phone is produced through 3D printing, and costs around $100. OwnFone, featured in a previous issue of HOT JOE, focuses on ease of use rather than features; it is aimed at users like small children and senior citizens, who may not be able to navigate more sophisticated phones, but who only COMING COMING WEARABLE TECH One of the most important trends in today’s tech industry is the rise of “wearable technology”. It’s been a staple of science fiction for years, with a realworld history stretching back to the 1960s and 1970s, when inventive gamblers built some of the first wearable computers to improve their odds at the casino. But until recently real-world technology had not advanced to practical use for mainstream consumers. (Aside from the explosion of calculator watches in the 1980s). But today, various technological advances, like improved batteries, displays, and connectivity, have made science-fiction dreams like Dick Tracy’s radio-watch a possibility for the average user. Major companies like Google, Nike, and Samsung (and, although they are keeping very close-mouthed about it, Apple) are investing heavily in wearable technology. Devices like Google’s headmounted Google Glass, Nike’s fitnessmeasuring FuelBand, and Samsung’s smartphone-enabled Galaxy Gear are becoming increasingly common sights. And new players like Jawbone, Fitbit, and Pebble are also rising to challenge the big dogs with their own innovative takes on wearables. "Many experts say the rise of embedded and wearable computing will bring the next revolution in digital technology," said Janna Anderson, director of Elon Univeristy's Imagining the Internet Center. "They say the upsides are enhanced health, convenience, productivity, safety, and vastly more useful information for people and organizations. The downsides: challenges to personal privacy, over-hyped expectations, and tech complexity that boggles us." Wearable technology is also called wearable devices, tech togs, or fashion electronics. Google Glass SELF-DRIVING CARS Nike FuelBand Jawbone Up Pebble smartwatch Fitbit Flex Samsung Galaxy Gear Some people think that autonomous or self-driving cars have the potential to completely revolutionize transport, by making roads safer, eliminating crashes, and decreasing congestion and pollution. Ron Medford, former deputy director of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and now the safety director for the self-driving car team at Google, believes the technology could have substantial positive impacts on the entire transport paradigm by eliminating driver error. "I think it has the potential to be the most important safety technology that the auto industry has ever seen," he said. Auto-manufacturers like Mercedes Benz, Audi, and Ford have been developing self-driving technology for years, producing applications like assisted parallel parking and proximity alarms. Recently, Google also made a big impact in the self-driving tech scene by unveiling their prototype self-driving cars. "We're really excited about this vehicle - it's something that will allow us to push the capabilities of self driving technology, and understand the limitations," said Chris Urmson, director of the company's self-driving project. The first prototype cars are equipped with powerful laser and radar sensors, augmented with camera data and Google’s map data, and a control interface centered on a single large stop/go button – no steering wheels, controls, or pedals included. (For early testing, extra controls will be fitted so one of Google's test drivers can take over if there is a problem.) The cars are designed to seat two people, with electric propulsion limited to 25 mph for safety reasons. The front end of the vehicle is designed to be safer for pedestrians, with a soft foam-like bumper and a more flexible windscreen, which may help reduce injuries. Google says it expects its selfdrive cars to be on the road “within a year,” and that their cars had already covered 700,000 miles of public roads in autonomous mode. The company plans to build a fleet of around 200 of the cars in Detroit, with the hope of using them as an autonomous technology test bed. However, skeptics warn that driverless cars may still require human input in extreme circumstances and that people may forget how to operate their vehicles if they do not do it regularly, or that traffic and congestion may in fact be worsened if more people take longer or more car-trips since there would be less effort involved. In May 2014, California's Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled its first set of rules for self-driving vehicles. What things are on the way out GOING GOING CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS IN PRINT With the rise of digital alternatives like Craigslist and Ayosdito.ph, classified print ads have seen a steady decline. A joint study by Robert Seamans of New York University's Stern School of Business and Feng Zhu of the Harvard Business School reveals that, from 2000-2007 in the United States, buyers saved 5 billion USD by posting free listings on Craigslist instead of buying ads in newspapers. The classified ads business — one of newspaper’s three longstanding revenue pillars, along with circulation revenue and more traditional CASH The rise of alternative payments through debit cards, credit cards, contactless payment cards, and the rise of digital banking services are driving down the use of cash. The latest Aite Group report on the subject predicts that cash use, which has been declining in U.S. payments transactions, will continue to do so through 2015. Consumers' use of cash will decline by a total of 17%, or 4% per year, between 2010 and 2015, dropping to slightly more than $1 trillion. A corresponding UK study showed that UK Shoppers spent 10 percent less with cash in 2012 than in the previous year. Cash is still a powerful presence and unlikely to disappear entirely any time soon, but shoppers are increasingly opting for other payment methods, such ads — was practically decimated. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, research from media investment management firm GroupM has shown that revenue from classified ads has dipped from nearly 2 billion GBP in 2006 to 436 million GBP in 2014. “Our study demonstrates how media companies respond to shocks from technologically disruptive entrants in different industries as debit cards and PayPal, according to the British Retail Consortium. Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Cash is still the most popular way to pay, but our survey shows how rapidly alternative and emerging methods are gaining ground, with growth more than doubling on the previous year. New ways to pay and new ways to shop are shaping the retail landscape like never before. Changing customer preferences are driving the increase in debit card use – they’re helping people to manage their money better and are a natural fit for online shopping and self-service checkouts.” The report also said that 40 percent of UK cash registers are now able to accept 'tap and go' contactless card payments, an investment made by retailers looking to streamline their customers’ payments. – an important issue as the boundaries between media industries are blurred and advertisers are able to reach relevant consumers through a variety of platforms such as TV, the Internet, and mobile devices,” explained Professor Seamans. “This study provides some insights to media moguls who will face future industry shocks and are pushed to re-evaluate their business models.” THINNER FRENCH TRAIN PLATFORMS French state-controlled railway operator SNCF will just have to shrink their train stations after it was revealed that their new trains – all 1,860 of them, ordered at a cost of €15 billion ($20.5 billion) - are trop grand for thousands of the country's platforms. The modifications will reportedly cost a further €50 million. The new regional express trains, due to go into service in 2016, were ordered after SNCF consulted with French rail network operator RFF. Responding to SNCF's request for platform dimensions, RFF sent over measurements — but only for stations built in the last 30 years. Many of France's rural stations were built more than half a century ago on narrower lines. Frédéric Cuvillier, the French transport secretary, called the mistake a "comic drama", blaming it on the previous French government's decision to split the SNCF and the RFF into two separate state-run entities. A c’est la vie! Sleeper HIT H alf a decade into the era of wider enterprise cloud migration, companies are still rationalizing proper methodologies, and looking for integrated solutions. The special collaboration and team-up between Oracle and PLDT ALPHA Enterprise may finally bring them the answers they seek through their latest combined cloud offerings. For Oracle, the cloud-enabled future for business is centered on a compelling argument: it still makes sense to think long-term, beginning “with the end in mind”. The Foundation: Oracle’s Engineered Systems TAKING THE LONG VIEW ON THE CLOUD A peek into PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s Oracle-based long-term cloud solutions At the core of the Oracle-powered PLDT Cloud solutions are Oracle’s Engineered Systems-- hardware and software that are engineered to work seamlessly together. They are purpose-built in the factory for rapid deployment of both infrastructure hardware and application software. PLDT ALPHA Enterprise’s choice Engineered System is specifically designed to host and deploy a broad spectrum of both server and cloudbased solutions. Furthermore, since Oracle enterprise applications are already pre-installed and pre-configured in virtualized images-- a very innovative approach to deploying software-installation and maintenance complexities are reduced from weeks down to mere days. With that, customers have more time to focus on their core business while achieving a faster time to market and lower cost of operations. The Best of Oracle, Now on the Cloud With Oracle’s Engineered Systems as the springboard, enterprises experience an entire enhanced PLDT suite of cloud-based solutions, each ready to address business verticals and needs. Leading the way is Oracle's Database Cloud Service, which allows enterprises to access the robustness and power of the world’s leading database effortlessly on the cloud. Users can store and manage any data in the Oracle Database Cloud Service and manage it via SQL, PL/SQL, or any SQL-based application or software. This service can work in concert with PLDT’s other Oracle on the Cloud solutions, one of which is the Oracle Developer on the Cloud Service (or Weblogic Server as a Service offering).This solution is a Platform as a Service (PaaS)-type solution that enables enterprise developers with the ability to collaborate, create, and deploy applications in faster, simpler ways. A Bountiful, Cloud-Enabled Future These solutions are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Oracle and PLDT ALPHA Enterprise share a mutual vision of an unequaled and seamless smorgasbord of cloud-based solutions: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Service, Cloud Analytics and Business Intelligence, Industry / Business “In a Box”, Billing as a Service, Finance as a Service, Marketing as a Service, and so much more. The primary foundation of this unprecedented partnership of course is PLDT’s undisputable leading position in the Philippines with the largest Philippine landline, broadband, and fiber optic network. With this peerless backing, corporate customers can experience the best Oracle has to offer in a cloud-based environment, as well as set and agree on specific service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee solution performance and integrity. INFINITE HIGH PERFORMANCE SMART Infinity brings the ALPHA experience to C-level executives AT a certain level of responsibility, managers and directors must learn the art of delegation, freeing their focus for highlevel decision-making. On this stratum, their decisions easily affect hundreds or thousands of people. Is a company better off if their CTO is busy shopping for WiFi enabled copiers rather than reviewing the company’s IT policies? It’s worthwhile for a company to remove some of the everyday stresses and clutter from their CFO’s life-- doing so frees him up to work at bigger decisions, ultimately optimizing their finances. Think of it this way: your CEO has only so much mental ‘fuel’ to burn. He can’t waste it on details like getting a present for an acquaintance or other trivialities. He should dedicate his all to keeping the company running and profitable. Worry-Free Communications That’s why SMART Enterprise launched the SMART Infinity Enterprise Plans - designed specifically for the uniquely demanding situations of C-level executives. They need the highest level of communications technology and connectivity available because their contacts are located all over the globe and in every time zone. They need to be available to all these scattered contacts; a dropped call or a missed email could be simply catastrophic-- millions of pesos and the future of entire product lines could be riding on the line. When conversations are this high-level, you don’t want to be worrying about whether this overseas call drives you over your limit, or if you should have taken this call on another line to lessen your charges, or if downloading this email attachment eats up all your data. That’s what SMART Infinity Enterprise is designed to remove – all the petty worrying. True to its name, SMART Infinity Enterprise promises infinite data, infinite calls, and infinite SMS -in short, infinite communications. There are no limitations - no network boundaries, no devices not covered. All SMART Infinity Enterprise subscribers enjoy VIP Network status, meaning their calls and texts are always first priority on SMART’s nationwide mobile network. This is a plan sans the usual limitations against an easy, worry-free, premium communications experience for the C-level executive. The Infinity Treatment This is hardly the entirety of what SMART Infinity Enterprise offers. They go above and beyond their exceptional network offerings to provide a level of expert, attentive service unmatched in the country. The Infinity Treatment starts with your own personal Infinity Management Office (IMO). IMOs are assigned to clients on a 1:1 basis, and are reachable via a single tap on your SMART Infinity app. They function as a personal secretary dedicated solely to your phone-related needs. This covers not only your personal plan and credit limits, but also issues such as transferring your contacts and photos from one phone to another, arranging text broadcasts when needed, and more. Complementing this is the SMART Infinity concierge service. A 24/7, international, always-ready concierge service exclusively for SMART Infinity subscribers, the concierge service is always reachable whether via a dedicated hotline or the SMART Infinity Lifestyle app. They are ready to ease the way for high-level clients in whatever way possible: assisting them in flight and hotel bookings for that well-deserved vacation, or providing information on the latest shows, concerts or movie showings. One SMART Infinity subscriber who was a huge fan of a certain book series asked their help in obtaining a signed copy of his favorite book; SMART Infinity was able to fulfill his request. That’s the kind of service, above and beyond the call of duty, which SMART Infinity prides itself on. Other perks like a personalized vanity number, an always-ready back-up SIM Card, and exclusive access to special events and treatment at certain locations and stores all contribute to the complete SMART Infinity Enterprise experience. In short, SMART Infinity Enterprise is designed to remove worries and obstacles in your life, leaving a C-level executive free to focus on the things that matter. It’s not any one single factor, but the holistic, privileged experience all this represents, that make SMART Infinity the perfect choice for the unbothered, uncluttered C-level executive. WHEELS Facilitates a car’s motion by reducing friction through rolling. The earliest wheels were made of wood, and first started appearing in Mesopotamia in 4000 BC. ENGINE THE ANATOMY Converts the chemical energy in your fuel into motion, which drives your car. The term “engine” used to refer to any type of machine, as in a “siege engine”. In 1958, Ford conceptualized a car whose engine would be a nuclear reactor! OF A CAR CARS AND CLOUDS They both have thousands of moving parts. Put together correctly, you can go far. Put together incorrectly, everything falls apart. The average car has 30,000 parts. Here are just a few of the more important ones: HOW IS BUYING A CAR LIKE GETTING YOUR CLOUD-BASED SOLUTION? BRAKES System used to stop the car’s motion, inhibiting it through leverage and hydraulics. Disc Brake Pads for a Formula 1 car cost $250 apiece, and during the course of racing and testing, a team will use around 1000 of them each season. That makes for an annual bill of $250,000 for brake pads alone. FLAMETHROWER CHASSIS FENDER The first ever Cadillac, made in 1902, had fenders made out of patent leather. The base framework of the car, on which the body is built. In the early days of automobile manufacturing, buyers had to choose a chassis and a body separately, then pay to have them mounted together. In South Africa, cars can be equipped with flamethrowers to prevent car-jackings. They would be mounted under the car doors. 1. 2. 3. 4. You tell the experts what you want and what you need. They customize your car/ solution accordingly. You don’t put it together yourself; instead, experts put the thousands of components together for you. Now you can simply jump in and drive off. You have a team of ICT experts/mechanics ready to address any future concerns, so you don’t have to. Say Last THE RACE AHEAD, AND ike any self-confessed racing and automotive sports enthusiast, for me there’s nothing quite like the siren call of a wide-open road: miles of perfectly rolled asphalt waiting to be eaten up by a machine of my choice. Whether on two wheels or four, there’s a certain primal satisfaction one derives from that momentary communion of man and machine, the magical interlock between brainpower and horsepower conquering each bend, chicane, or twistie. When everything clicks in harmony, working together seamlessly and perfectly, the miles literally fly by. Inevitably, you arrive at your destination with a quiet triumph as you appreciate a sight at land’s end – a previously unknown breakwater, a hidden hilltop vista – that only a privileged and skilled few share. But here’s the thing. Everything has to work seamlessly and perfectly, all the time. Otherwise the results can be catastrophic. An ill-maintained engine can blow up on you, leaving you stranded and desperate on a remote – perhaps even dangerous – locale. An amateur mistake in judgment at the worst possible time can cause you to careen fatally off course. This is perhaps why I feel that our ALPHA Track Days have always framed the perfect allegory to the businesses we manage and lead. Success can be won or lost in mere inches or moments; precious decision times have been whittled to razor thin. In this age of increasing globalization and competition, both the track and the boardroom have become unforgiving arenas for zero-sum games. The PLDT ALPHA Track Day attributes – TEAMWORK, ACCURACY, and SPEED – are therefore as paramount as ever. We have to prepare our enterprise resources as we do our most reliable machines, and never forgetting the most crucial of resources: the human component of discernment, vision and decision-making. Both man and machine must work in excellent unison, always – but ultimately, man must always be master of the machine. This after all, is the race that never really ends. So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines anew. I’ll happily see you on every new road that opens up before us. Eric r. Alberto EVP and Head of Enterprise, International & Carrier Business PLDT / SMART Calling Circle: Unlimited calls for SMART Enterprise Plans within the same company. ASC Ref. Code: S054P051314S
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