As Bengaluru battles COVID-19, tech platforms come handy for IT workforce

The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

With the coronavirus reaching tech parks, campuses of multinational companies and even schools and colleges in Bengaluru, the IT city is gearing up to shoot the trouble with the help of technology. The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

As more employees opt for work from home in this time of crisis, start-ups are launching a suite of products to support collaboration and communication among workers. Ozonetel, a city-based start-up, for example, has rolled out a cloud-based solution for call centre companies to switch to work-from-home, in order to contain the spread of the virus. Using the solution, a company can route calls to mobile phones or even landlines, instead of them taking calls via desktop.

Human resource management software start-up Kredily has started providing its attendance management app for free to companies. Unlike a contact-based biometric system, the web-based authentication system rules out the possibility of spreading the virus through human contact, said the company.

“This restricts attendance to a specific location and comes in handy for companies where work-from-home is not being practised,” said Devendra Khandegar, founder & CEO of the start-up.

Chennai-based company Zoho which has clients such as Ola, MedLife and OnePlus in Bengaluru, has decided to offer its newly-launched remote work toolkit ‘Remotely’ for free to everyone. Remotely includes 10 applications that create a comprehensive communication system including virtual meetings, showtime for conferences, and online file management. “Our CEO (Sridhar Vembu) has been working from a remote farm in Tenkasi, a village in Tamil Nadu, and encouraging employees to go back to their home towns if they have internet connectivity,” said the company.

There are reasons to be a buyer in current market scenario amid virus scare

Our experience with earlier epidemics such as SARS, EBOLA and ZICA does suggest that medical science will find out a solution sooner than later.

Coronavirus scare has acted as a catalyst for global equity meltdown and India is not an exception to this. It is difficult to call when the coronavirus scare will come under control. Our experience with earlier epidemics such as SARS, EBOLA and ZICA does suggest that medical science will find out a solution sooner than later.

India obviously has short-term pain to endure from global growth slowdown and equity meltdown.

However, there are few benefits from Coronavirus scare.

- Oil prices have crashed from $68 a barrel to $50 a barrel and are likely to remain subdued for some time.

- India runs official trade deficit of $58 billion with China. Due to coronavirus-led supply chain disruption, this deficit can come down significantly. This, in turn, will encourage local manufacturing.

- Many global companies would like to diversify their supply chain from China due to increasing cost and heavy concentration. If India can invite all those companies and become part of global supply chain management, then growth will get a big boost.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been heavy sellers in last week as they scaled back risk. This might continue until there is a solution for coronavirus. However, this volatility will provide an opportunity for long-term investors to buy, if our experience of SARS, EBOLA is an indicator.

There was a lot of panic during SARS and EBOLA outbreak. However, medical science found a cure and the world continued moving forward. From the lows of SARS, the Nifty50 index has gained 10-fold by now. That said, it is difficult to predict how much the market will go down from current levels, as it will be dependent upon how soon and effectively coronavirus gets controlled.

Coronavirus pain for Chinese mobile handset makers may be Samsung's gain

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat.

As China reels from the coronavirus epidemic, Korean mobile phone maker Samsung seems to be recovering some of the lost ground.

While the outbreak has forced most leading brands like Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme to rework their launch dates and pricing strategies, Samsung, which struggled to maintain its hold over the market last year, has taken the lead.

The data from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) shows that the local unit of the Korean major has lined up nine new handset models for launch in early 2020. Among major brands, only Redmi (from Xiaomi) and LG have registered two models each since January 1 with the national standards body, followed by Motorola and Coolpad (one each).

Delhi-based local brand Cellecor, which has a presence in the entry-level segment, tops the chart with 15 models registered since January 1. Hitech, another Indian brand, holds the third spot with eight models registered over this period.

According to Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at TechArc, the trend clearly indicates that “major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are delaying their launches. Typically, after the BIS registration, models are launched in 4-6 weeks”.

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He said, “As of now it gives advantage to Samsung among major OEMs as it can procure from Korea and other countries, resulting in low impact on its supply chain.”

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat. Though many of them have set up facilities in India, they continue to depend heavily on supplies from China.