Zero Trust network will be key to

 Zero Trust network will be key to achieving cybersecurity resilience: IEEE

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, today concluded its virtual roundtable focused on how cybersecurity will be an integral part in the next normal, powering the future workplace. With the pandemic bringing a paradigm shift in the way we work, IEEE curated a roundtable to discuss the tenets of cybersecurity and how it will be an important aspect for individuals and businesses to establish a strong IT foundation in these rapidly changing environments.

 

During the roundtable, Senior IEEE Member and Founder, Congruent Services, Aiyappan Pillai said, “Industry and society at large have embraced digital as a key enabler across all facets and domains of activity. The boundaries of the “digital estate” have become variable. As critical digital resources are not confined to a physical location, new policies, protocols and technologies are required to ensure cybersecurity.”

 

 In a recent survey of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) in the U.S., U.K., China, India and Brazil, the top two concerns for CIOs and CTOs when it comes to the cybersecurity of their organization are security issues related to the mobile workforce, including employees bringing their own devices to work (37%).

 

“Adopting a zero-trust security architecture could help manage cybersecurity incidents by the reduction in the attack surface. This multi-layer approach would entail new security protocols that every digital citizen should embrace, even if slightly inconvenient. The new challenges throw up many opportunities in cybersecurity. It is a mainstream requirement of any organization and hence the need for cybersecurity professionals is expected to grow,” he further added.

 

Though cloud and internet are core infrastructure prone to DDoS attacks, there is greater focus on cybersecurity by service providers due to mission criticality. Vulnerabilities due to human beings - both inadvertent and intentional - are more challenging to defend. While installation of reputed anti-malware/ anti-virus / anti-ransomware software on end devices is essential, it is equally important to raise the awareness of each digital citizen on cybersecure practices. 

Commenting on the same, Bala Peddigari, Senior IEEE Member said, “Digital technologies convergence has transformed the customer experience and opened many vulnerabilities for industries to look and face upon. Today, we see organization of every shape and size significantly invest in cybersecurity, keeping time as a major essence. As the organization are working in remote manner due to current pandemic situation across the globe, elimination of perimeter, AI, multitude of technologies, modern workplace, lack of security awareness and reactive methods are some of the key factors influencing the cyber risk landscape.”

The pandemic has demonstrated the power of digital enablement and people are embracing it at different levels. As the issues of cybersecurity have been accentuated during the pandemic, there is an awareness regarding the need to secure data as well as system integrity. It is expected that the Healthcare & BFSI industries will give extreme importance to cybersecurity, as they go digital in a big way. The IEEE members underlined the need to invest in cybersecurity measures for a better, connected future and Zero Trust will be of utmost importance to take industries to greater heights.

IndusInd Bank successfully completes

IndusInd Bank successfully completes integration with CRMNEXT across all its customer touch points 

·         IndusInd Bank adopts a smarter, faster and deeper customer engagement strategy with an agile technology platform

IndusInd Bank has announced its successful integration with CRMNEXT, the leading enterprise solution provider for banks and financial services. This integration will enable the Bank to simplify the process of customer on-boarding, introduce new products, and meet customer demands by automating and customizing processes to fit the modern-day financial requirements.

The CRMNEXT platform will empower IndusInd Bank with an intelligence driven ‘Customer Action Center’ which will provide complete information on customers acquired from multiple sources, and make it available on a single intuitive screen. This will give the Bank a holistic view of customer relationships across product offerings, thereby enabling the Bank officials to build smarter relationship programs, and also initiate activities for faster sales and service fulfilment.

The platform will be implemented across IndusInd Bank’s wide network of nearly 2000 branches, call centers and processing units for sales and service operations. It will also integrate and power all  digital and physical banking touch points including ATMs, WhatsApp Banking platform, Email, SMS, Mobile apps etc. as well as over 150 integration touch points including core banking, loan systems, credit card system, Aadhaar, credit bureaus among others.  

Speaking about the integration, Mr. Soumitra Sen, Country Head - Consumer Banking, IndusInd Bank, said, “Technology and innovation have always been a critical focus area for the bank and that has been key towards achieving customer satisfaction. In keeping with this vision, we are delighted to integrate our banking systems with the CRMNEXT platform which will help automate and personalize processes, so that we can focus on meeting the unique needs of every customer and be even more strongly able to deliver stellar user experiences across the board.”

Talking about the integration, Mr. Anil Rao, Head – Operations and Solution Delivery, IndusInd Bank, said, “Transitioning to a high impact digital platform has been a massive, yet seamless experience with CRMNEXT. It will help us to drive our digital strategies in an agile and scalable environment efficiently, with faster fulfilment, delivering superior customer experience. Building on the robust new customer management platform, we aim to cement our position as a digital first bank."

Mr. Biswabrata Chakravorty, Chief Information Officer, IndusInd Bank, said “The launch of the next generation CRM platform is in line with IndusInd Bank’s vision to transform to a Digital Bank focussed in providing best-in-class banking services enabled through innovative use of technology. The Bank has created a digital customer experience and action platform leveraging the elasticity and resilience of the Cloud and through a robust API led integration with all customer touch points.  This platform will provide a unified view of the customer across the lifecycle by incorporating the principle of a golden customer profile from lead/prospect to after sale service. This platform will be accessed by all customer facing channels and staff, making it challenging from a design point of view. IndusInd Bank has leveraged partnership with industry leading platforms like CRM Next, VmWare and Amazon to deliver on this ask and architected it for a seamless client experience.”

Mr. Sushil Tyagi, Director, CRMNEXT, said, "With the increasing influence of digital in customers’ everyday lives, it’s critical for banking institutions to deliver a delightful and consistent digital experience. CRMNEXT is the leader in digital customer experience platform for banks with an exemplary delivery track record, we are confident to further power IndusInd in its growth strategy bringing efficiencies with large scale optimization and smart automation."

Appended below, are some of the benefits of the integration with CRMNXT:

·         The integration will enable the Bank to anticipate customer needs well in advance, and craft personalized offerings, thereby enhancing customer loyalty.

·         Codeless, visual digital journey designers enable personalized sales, service offerings with significantly faster turn-around-time and lower operational costs.

·         Guided actions will help the teams at IndusInd Bank to curate their engagement activities, and build long term relationships with stakeholders.