Category Archives: Technology

Transform Enterprise Workloads up to 4x Faster with Agentic AI

India—May 16, 2025— You’re likely aware of the huge appetite organizations of all sizes have to leverage AI technology to rethink their business and deliver intelligent, data-driven outcomes faster. Recent research shows that 64% of enterprises are investing in AI in 2025, and 63% are accelerating cloud migration plans. The correlation between these is important for you: migrating your mission-critical applications and data to build a trusted foundation is what transforms good AI into great AI.

This increasing need to move to the cloud doesn’t change the fact that migrating and modernizing workloads remains one of the most tedious (but critical) projects for your enterprise to undertake. At AWS, we’ve spent nearly two decades leading enterprise migration and modernization, helping tens of thousands of customers like you transform their businesses. Despite that, 75% of enterprise workloads remain on premises, with 70% of Fortune 500 companies still running on software written over two decades ago. And traditional migration and modernization projects often stretch to 18 months or more, creating a bottleneck in your path to AI innovation. In 2024, we asked ourselves: What if we could combine our 19 years of migration expertise with the latest advancements in AI to eliminate bottlenecks and accelerate transformation projects from years to months or even weeks? The result is AWS Transform, a revolutionary service that uses agentic AI to accelerate and simplify the migration and modernization of your infrastructure, applications, and code.

Introducing AWS Transform: The Future of Your Enterprise Modernization

AWS Transform (previewed as Amazon Q Developer transformation capabilities at re:Invent 2024) uses specialized AI agents to remove the heavy lifting and automate complex migration and modernization tasks for your VMware, mainframe, and .NET workloads, delivering completed transformation projects up to 4x faster. This new agentic AI service uses AWS advancements in foundational models, LLMs, machine learning, graph neural networks, automated reasoning, and AI infrastructure to deliver an entirely new migration and modernization experience for you. And the results from our preview speak for themselves:

• AWS Transform agent for .NET can modernize Windows-based .NET applications to Linux up to four times faster than traditional methods and realize up to 40% savings in licensing costs.
• AWS Transform agent for mainframe can decompose monolithic z/OS COBOL applications into components that can be run in the cloud in minutes instead of months.
• AWS Transform agent for VMware can automate the conversion of on-premises VMware network configurations to AWS equivalents up to 80 times faster than manual approaches.

AWS Transform uses a chat experience that acts as a knowledgeable transformation assistant, helping you specify objectives, share project context, assess business plans and cost savings, review and adapt transformation plans, review and approve code and infrastructure suggestions and more. AWS Transform also brings together your cross-functional teams in a unified web experience where you can review tasks, track progress, and collaborate throughout the project keeping you in control of transformation plans for your most complex legacy applications including:

Modernizing Windows-based .NET Applications to reduce costs by up to 40%

The AWS Transform agent for .NET accelerates your .NET Framework application porting from Windows to Linux, reducing operating costs by up to 40%. This cost savings is achieved by reducing your Windows Server licensing costs, version upgrades, maintenance, and end-of-support challenges, while also shrinking transformation costs across analysis, planning and refactoring. Using the .NET agent, you can chat using natural language to share transformation objectives and project context, and have AWS Transform analyze dependencies, apply domain expertise from past modernization journeys to develop customized modernization plans, and autonomously transform code, execute unit tests, generate transformation summary, and validate Linux-readiness.

AWS Transform enhances performance and scalability of your applications by transforming .NET Framework application code to cross-platform .NET which is Linux ready, and porting private packages, automating unit test execution, and providing explainable transformation decisions. This new agent enables you to transform hundreds of applications in parallel with consistent results through a unified web experience, streamlining collaboration across your teams and empowering you to efficiently tackle large-scale modernization projects.

“By using AWS Transform for .NET to port one of our .NET Framework applications to .NET Core 8, we reduced 70% of the modernization effort, with 100% success. As we continue our modernization process for the entire core application, we estimate a total development time and effort reduction of up to 80%. The next steps include incorporating one of our major backend applications into the transformation effort from Windows to Linux, deploying it on Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate as microservices.” – Enrique Zazueta, Grupo Tress Internacional (GTI), Director of Software Development

Accelerating Mainframe Modernization from Years to Months

You can now streamline your entire modernization process with the AWS Transform agent for mainframe, accelerating timelines by up to 50% while reducing risk and complexity. Through the chat interface, you can define high-level modernization goals and negotiate your job plan. When you’re ready, AWS Transform processes your mainframe applications written in COBOL, JCL (Job Control Language) and those relying on CICS (Customer Information Control System) transaction manager, BMS (Basic Mapping Support) screens, DB2 databases, and VSAM (Virtual Storage Access Method) data files.

You’ll benefit from advanced code analysis that rapidly identifies dependencies and missing files, reducing downstream project delays. Using Graph Neural Networks, you can decompose your monolithic applications into manageable modules, enabling targeted modernization approaches while preserving your critical business logic. Throughout the project, AWS Transform acts as your AI assistant, learning from your progress and answering questions about your programs based on generated technical documentation.

When you’re refactoring applications, you can convert your COBOL, JCL, and DB2 to Java and Postgres, leveraging state machines and state transition graphs for enhanced accuracy. For reimagining your applications, you’ll get comprehensive technical documentation, business rules, and logical flows extracted from millions of lines of your code. With intelligent orchestration of AI agents, you can modernize your mainframe applications in the cloud with greater speed, simplicity, and confidence while preserving your institutional knowledge through detailed documentation.

“By leveraging AWS Transform’s AI agent functionality, we were able to significantly streamline the process that would typically require experienced engineers to accurately interpret, document, and verify the relationships between programs and the logic of business codes. For instance, in the analysis of complex components—a task that would normally take approximately one month—we confirmed that the same process could be completed within just about one week. This represents a major step forward in enhancing both efficiency and productivity.” – Hitoshi Okayama, General Manager, Broker Dealers System Service Department, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.

Reducing VMware Modernization Planning from Weeks to Minutes

You can avoid rising VMware licensing fees while optimizing your infrastructure and reducing operational overhead with the AWS Transform agent for VMware. The chat interface guides you to add connectors to your on-premises VMware environments or upload your asset inventories from third-party tools. After you specify your goals, the agent automates tasks such as application discovery, dependency mapping, migration planning, network conversion, server migration, and EC2 instance optimization. You’ll have the ability to review, approve, and edit artifacts through a human-in-the-loop mechanism.

Using Graph Neural Networks, you can analyze your network traffic and communication patterns to identify dependencies and automatically generate optimal migration wave plans. You can convert your complex network configurations to AWS equivalents, including VPCs, subnets, security groups, and transit gateways, while addressing your network migration challenges through enhanced capabilities like isolated VPCs and flexible Hub-and-Spoke configurations. With AWS Transform for VMware, traditional network configuration tasks that typically take two weeks can be completed in one hour, and migration wave planning that usually requires weeks of analysis can be completed in 15 minutes.

“At SourceFuse, we’re excited about the transformational potential of AWS Transform for VMware. By automating critical steps like dependency mapping, network translation, and wave planning, we’ve seen execution times improve by up to 90%, while reducing manual effort by 80%. This capability empowers us to deliver faster, lower-risk migrations, helping our customers achieve cloud readiness sooner and build a scalable, future-proof foundation on AWS.” Rajiv Lokare, Head of DevOps, SourceFuse

Ready to start your transformation?

We are excited about the significant shifts we’ve been able to drive by applying agentic AI to reducing transformation complexity and accelerating timelines. This is the just beginning of our journey of rethinking the migration and modernization of your most critical workloads and we look forward to helping you use AWS Transform to start yours. Reach out to your AWS team or one of our AWS Migration and Modernization Competency partners today to leverage our Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) and Experience-Based Acceleration (EBA) programs to plan your transformation. Or dive into AWS Transform on your own to experience the power of agentic AI and intelligent automation for unprecedented speed, scale and performance as you migrate and modernize to AWS and embrace AI to drive innovation for your business.

MUHS Pioneers Emotion-AI in Indian Healthcare with Nihilent’s Emoscape

Mumbai, May 16, 2025: In a landmark step toward advancing holistic healthcare, the academic wing of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik the country’s premier institution overseeing over 600 medical, dental, Ayurveda, and allied health institutions has officially partnered with Nihilent to explore clinical applications of Emoscape, the company’s innovative AI-based emotion detection platform. This collaboration marks a transformative moment in the Indian healthcare landscape, combining the ancient Indian concept of Navarasa (the nine emotions) with modern artificial intelligence to fundamentally reshape how emotional well-being is integrated into diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.

Emoscape leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to detect nine core emotions love, joy, compassion, anger, courage, fear, disgust, wonder, and calmness by capturing subtle upper-body movements (shoulder and above) in 3D. This breakthrough platform draws inspiration from Navarasa, the ancient emotional theory that has played a pivotal role in Indian performing arts for centuries. The integration of this ancient wisdom with modern AI allows for real-time emotion detection, providing unprecedented insights into a patient’s emotional state and opening new avenues for personalized care and treatment.

Lt Gen (Dr.) Madhuri Kanitkar, Vice Chancellor of MUHS, emphasized the profound impact of this collaboration on the future of healthcare in India: “You cannot separate the mind from the body. Healthcare must be holistic. This is not just research it’s a revolution. By combining the time-tested wisdom of Navarasa with state-of-the-art technology, we are opening new doors for understanding and addressing emotional well-being. Our students, researchers, and healthcare professionals will now have access to an advanced platform that can aid in diagnosing and treating emotional and psychological issues with greater accuracy and empathy.”

As one of the most renowned institutions in the country, MUHS has long been a leader in medical education and research. This collaboration with Nihilent positions the university at the forefront of healthcare innovation. The partnership will allow MUHS to explore clinical applications of Emoscape across a range of disciplines, including non-communicable diseases, pediatric and adolescent care, maternal mental health, pre-surgical counselling, psychiatric conditions and ensuring patient privacy. Through this initiative, MUHS aims to bring emotional diagnostics into mainstream healthcare, aligning with its commitment to delivering comprehensive, patient-centred care.

Sandeep Pendurkar, Business Director of Emoscape at Nihilent, highlighted the role of emotional AI in revolutionizing patient care: “For the first time, we’re offering a platform that brings together AI, clinical science, and cultural heritage to redefine healthcare. Emoscape’s ability to detect emotional states with precision is a game-changer. This partnership with MUHS is not just about technology it’s about creating a new framework for emotional well-being in medicine. By detecting and understanding emotions, we can provide more personalized and effective care, improving both patient outcomes and the overall healthcare experience.”

In addition to its clinical applications, the collaboration will facilitate hands-on student engagement through Nihilent’s Summer Internship Program, providing MUHS students with valuable exposure to the intersection of AI and healthcare. This initiative will empower the next generation of healthcare professionals with the skills and knowledge necessary to embrace technological advancements and innovate in their respective fields.

The partnership between MUHS and Nihilent also paves the way for India to become a global leader in emotion-AI-driven healthcare. With both organizations committed to generating empirical data through rigorous research, this collaboration aims to mainstream emotional diagnostics and usher in a new era of holistic, human-centred medicine that can be adopted globally.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MUHS and Nihilent was signed in a formal ceremony attended by key figures from both institutions, including Lt Gen Dr. Madhuri Kanitkar (Retd), Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of MUHS; Dr. Milind Nikumbh, Hon’ble Pro Vice Chancellor of MUHS; Dr. Rajendra Bangal, Hon’ble Registrar of MUHS and Sandeep Rathod, Assistant Registrar at MUHS. From Nihilent, the signing ceremony was witnessed by Sandeep Pendurkar, Business Director of Emoscape, along with Saurabh Shaligram, Principal Data Scientist, and Sai Sanjana Chitturi, Associate Consultant.

AI Samarth Launches ‘AI Literacy Curriculum Framework’ for Future-Ready Bharat

16th May, 2025, New Delhi: Marking a pivotal moment in India’s education landscape, Central Square Foundation (CSF), with support from Google.org, and in collaboration with the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI (WSAI) at IIT Madras, launched the AI Literacy Curriculum Framework for Students at the ‘AI Samarth Conclave’ in New Delhi. This represents a significant milestone for ‘AI Samarth’, an initiative to empower over 50 lakh students, teachers, and parents across government and affordable private schools in India with the requisite knowledge and capacity to engage with AI effectively, safely, and responsibly.

AI is rapidly emerging as a transformative force in shaping society, influencing daily life across sectors, including education. As AI profoundly impacts the education sector, it brings opportunities to make learning deeply personalised, adaptive, and efficient. However, realising this potential requires more than just access to technology; it demands awareness, thoughtful integration and meaningful AI engagement by users.

To address this need, AI Samarth has developed a contextualised AI Literacy Curriculum Framework for Students and Teachers in India. In his Keynote address at the launch, Abhishek Singh, CEO, IndiaAI Mission and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Govt. of India, said “The transformative and cross-cutting potential of AI will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education in India. As we build a Viksit Bharat by 2047, it is essential to equip every learner with foundational AI literacy so they are ready for the opportunities of tomorrow’s workforce. With AI-powered learning, we can make education more personalised, equitable, and efficient, while easing the burden on teachers.” The curriculum released today aims to build fundamental AI awareness in students, cultivate critical thinking and responsible use of AI tools—laying the groundwork for a future-ready, AI-literate society. The AI literacy curriculum for educators, to be released soon, will focus on enhancing AI awareness, building capacity to leverage AI for teaching and learning, and guiding students in its safe and informed use. The curriculum has been informed by key learnings from high-quality curricula and courses available globally.

Further, AI Samarth is building an open-source content stack, including a video repository for self-learning for students, parents, and teachers, along with teaching-learning materials for cascaded training for both teachers and students. The multilingual content stack will be released as a public good in English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and Odia over the next six months, with an intent to expand to additional regional languages subsequently. The content will be disseminated through digital platforms and cascaded training modules, in collaboration with mission-aligned implementation partners, state governments and online learning platforms across Bharat. In its first round of implementation, AI Samarth has partnered with six organisations to build AI Literacy for over 50 lakh (5 million) students, parents and teachers. Looking ahead, AI Samarth is committed to mainstreaming AI literacy into school systems nationwide.

As India embraces the promise of AI, equipping users with the tools to engage with AI critically and responsibly will be key to shaping a future where technology is used with purpose and impact at scale. Through this effort, India is building the groundwork for future generations to lead, create, and shape an inclusive AI-driven future.

Qlik Introduces an Agentic Experience to Accelerate Data-to-Decision Journeys

Qlik^®, a global leader in data integration, data quality, analytics, and artificial intelligence, today introduced its new agentic experience at Qlik Connect^® 2025. The agentic experience will provide a single, conversational interface allowing users across the enterprise to interact naturally with data, using specialized AI agents to quickly uncover insights, drive faster decisions, and boost productivity—bringing new simplicity to complex data-driven workflows.

Qlik has consistently pushed forward the possibilities of data exploration, visualization, and analytics. At the heart of this continuous innovation is the Qlik engine—a unique technology that indexes relationships across data, enabling the discovery of unexpected connections. The agentic experience builds directly on this engine, expanding the ability of both users and agents to intuitively access these relationships, surface insights, and take action across diverse data.

The agentic experience will enable users to access insights and take action simply by engaging in natural language dialogue. Operating seamlessly across Qlik Cloud—including data integration, data quality, and analytics solutions—the experience removes friction, providing fast, intuitive visibility for smarter decisions and higher productivity.

At Qlik Connect, the company demonstrated how specialized AI agents will support users within this new experience:

• Introduced last year for unstructured data, Qlik Answers™ will bring together structured and unstructured data in a single natural language experience, delivering trusted answers and enabling automated actions.
• Revealed for the first time at the event, a discovery agent will proactively identify critical risks and opportunities across applications and datasets, presenting insights and recommended actions through a personalized feed.
• Demonstrated as a concept, a pipeline agent will allow users to describe desired business outcomes conversationally, prompting automated recommendations and design of necessary data pipelines.

As enterprises face unpredictable market conditions and increasing pressure to make critical decisions rapidly, investments in AI have grown. With its agentic experience, Qlik is focused on helping customers turn data into timely, high-quality decisions and results. Qlik’s agentic experience is specifically designed to empower teams to accelerate both decisions and productivity in rapidly changing environments.

“This new agentic experience is about removing the distance between data, decisions, and outcomes,” said Mike Capone, CEO of Qlik. “People want a seamless, conversational way to engage with their data—one that fits naturally into their work and delivers clear, trusted answers in context. We’ve built this experience to reflect how decisions actually get made in a business.”

“There’s a growing demand for AI that does more than generate responses—enterprises want systems that can reason across complex data, explain their outputs, and drive action,” said Megha Kumar, Research Vice President, Worldwide Analytics & AI, IDC. “Qlik Answers combines structured and unstructured data with automation in a governed, explainable framework. It’s a strong example of how agentic AI can support real enterprise decision-making.”

“We’re under constant pressure to make faster, better decisions with data that’s scattered across the business,” said Yuzuru Fukuda, Corporate Executive Officer – Senior EVP, Enterprise Division CEO, Fujitsu. “The ability to ask a question and get a trusted, contextual answer—across structured reports, unstructured content, and automated workflows—is exactly the kind of capability we’ve been waiting for. It has the potential to remove a lot of friction from how decisions actually get made.”

Smarter Wearables: Google Gemini Is Coming to Samsung Galaxy Watch and Buds

Bengaluru, India – May 15, 2025 – Your Galaxy wearables are about to get even smarter in the coming months. Google Gemini is set to debut on Samsung Galaxy Watches, making its first integration into the Galaxy wearable lineup. Moreover, activating Gemini will be smoother than ever when paired with the Galaxy Buds3 series. This update will extend AI functionalities across the entire Galaxy ecosystem, creating a more cohesive and intelligent user experience.

Galaxy Watch: Get More Done, Hands-Free

With Gemini on your Galaxy Watch, you can get hands-free assistance using natural voice commands to stay productive on the move. When running on the treadmill at the gym, simply ask Gemini to “Remember I’m using locker 43 today” so you can focus on your workout without a second thought. Or when you receive an important email while your hands are tied up carrying groceries, just ask Gemini to “Summarize my last email” for a quick overview. Gemini handles these requests across your apps, letting you quickly glance at the response and get right back to what you’re doing.

Galaxy Buds: Seamless Device Interaction

When used with Galaxy Buds, the Gemini experience becomes even more seamless. By using voice or pinch and hold controls, you can activate Gemini on your Galaxy Buds and smoothly interact with your Galaxy smartphone. So when you are lacing up your running shoes before a jog, just ask Gemini, “What’s the weather for my run today?” without having to reach for your phone. With Gemini, a more intelligent Galaxy experience is at your fingertips.

Hexnode Boosts Purpose-Built Device Support with ChromeOS Kiosk and Windows Signage

Hexnode, the leading Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) platform from Mitsogo Inc., has announced the extension of Kiosk Lockdown support to ChromeOS and the addition of digital signage capabilities to its Windows kiosk management offering.

These enhancements empower businesses to take better control of their single-purpose and customer-facing endpoints. By restricting access to unnecessary applications and streamlining content management, organizations can strengthen security and ensure displays remain relevant and up to date.

“As businesses rely more on purpose-built devices for customer engagement, even brief downtime can disrupt operations and the customer experience,” said Sahad M, Chief Technology Officer at Hexnode. “Recognizing this, we are committed to providing reliable kiosk and digital signage tools that help businesses transform everyday devices into secure, easily manageable interaction hubs.”

Transform ChromeOS devices into Interactive Kiosks

ChromeOS is gaining ground as a preferred platform for kiosk deployments by offering an affordable, compact and cloud-first design solution. Businesses using ChromeOS-powered kiosks have reported an increase in sales and efficiency, making it ideal for applications ranging from self-service kiosks to exam-ready student devices. 

Hexnode now offers several essential features for managing ChromeOS kiosks:

Single-App Kiosk Mode: Lock devices into a single app for a focused experience, ideal for self-ordering, check-ins, or wayfinding. Enhance security by disabling plugins and function keys, blocking browser extensions and shortcuts to prevent malicious actors from exploiting loopholes and exiting kiosk mode.

Multi-App Kiosk Mode: Grant access to a curated set of apps while blocking distractions, ideal for environments that require flexibility without compromising security. This mode is particularly valuable in digital classrooms or healthcare environments, where users may have limited tech expertise, ensuring they can switch between essential apps easily.

Power and Accessibility Settings: Configure power and battery settings to align with usage patterns, optimizing uptime and extending device longevity. Manage accessibility features like virtual keyboard and dictation, ensuring a user-friendly experience on shared or public devices.

Remote Management: Quickly lock or wipe kiosk devices in the event of compromise or loss, and reboot devices when they freeze or malfunction, all without the need for on-site technician intervention.

Turn Windows Devices into Engaging Digital Signage

Windows remains a widely adopted choice for digital signage after Android, thanks to its long hardware lifespan, robust performance, and broad compatibility with signage software and peripherals. From retail chains to corporate campuses, Windows-powered signage is used to broadcast promotions, display dynamic menus, and relay internal communications. With digital signage shown to boost customer visits by 80%, delivering the right message at the right time has never been more crucial.

Hexnode equips businesses to display content effectively through:

Content Deployment: Easily push promotional images, videos, or URLs to remote displays, making it perfect for keeping retail storefronts updated or synchronizing digital menus across multiple locations.

Loop Video Mode: Auto-play content in a continuous loop, keeping customer engaged with uninterrupted video playback in high-traffic areas like malls or transport hubs.

Full-Screen Display: Automatically adjust content to fill the screen, ensuring consistency and visual impact in environments like corporate lobbies or product showcases.

With the latest addition of digital signage capabilities to Windows kiosk lockdown and newly expanded kiosk support for ChromeOS, Hexnode’s kiosk solutions now cover major platforms like macOS, iOS, Apple TV, Windows, Android, and ChromeOS. This unified approach empowers IT teams to seamlessly secure and manage interactive kiosks and digital signage displays across a diverse fleet of devices.

ManageEngine Adds Native Intelligence and Advanced Automation Capabilities to Its Unified PAM Platform

Chennai, India – May 6, 2025 — ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation and a leading provider of enterprise IT management solutions, today announced that it has added AI-powered enhancements—featuring intelligent least privilege access and risk remediation policy recommendations—to its privileged access management platform, PAM360. A new privileged task automation module enabled by Qntrl, Zoho’s unified workflow orchestration platform, has also been introduced. Together, these newly added capabilities help enterprises automate enterprise-wide administrative routines, enforce least privilege at scale with intelligent, context-aware controls and reduce security risks through automated remediation.

AI-Governed Least Privilege Access

Traditional PAM models, which rely on static policies and manual processes, often operate without sufficient context. This can result in excessive permissions, entitlement drift, and configuration errors. To address these challenges, organizations should adopt an adaptive, context-driven approach to privileged access management—one that leverages AI to enable dynamic, risk-based access control. In fact, according to ManageEngine’s 2024 Identity Security Insights, 68% of the respondents are looking for AI-driven improvements in risk-based access control.

“Today’s hybrid, multi-cloud environments have led to an explosion of human and non-human identities, creating complex access workflows and rampant privilege sprawl. To tackle this, organizations require dynamic policies that can intelligently enforce the principle of least privilege across their identity stack. With the AI-driven CIEM module in PAM360, IT security teams can now generate intelligent least privilege policies, proactively flag risky entitlements and automate remediation, helping enterprises close critical identity security gaps before they’re exploited,” said Ramanathan Kannabiran, director of product management at ManageEngine.

PAM360’s CIEM module now features AI-generated least privilege policies, automated remediation of shadow admin risks and real-time access and session summaries. These AI-driven capabilities help organizations proactively tackle access sprawl and misconfigurations in hybrid environments with minimal manual effort.

Orchestrating Privileged Operations With Zero-Touch Controls

Business workflows that leverage RPA and script-based automation often rely on manual access provisioning, resulting in delayed execution and increased overheads, leading to potential security gaps. Modern IT teams need dynamic controls that can streamline on-demand access within these automated workflows and strengthen the security posture of the organization.

According to Kannabiran, “Privileged task automation in PAM360 eliminates the need for administrators to manually grant and revoke necessary access privileges for every automated routine. Access is provisioned just in time, based on the task context, and revoked automatically once the task ends. This not only preserves admin bandwidth, but also reduces the risk of privilege misuse caused by excessive or standing access.”

Powered by Qntrl, PAM360 brings native automation capabilities that eliminate the need for third-party tools. Its deep integration within the Zoho ecosystem enables seamless orchestration of privileged access workflows—enhancing efficiency without compromising security. PAM360 streamlines vendor access with automated onboarding and offboarding, provisions ephemeral, just-in-time access with fine-grained, time-bound controls, and ensures a secure, hands-free transfer of privileged data—delivering speed, consistency and reduced risk across the board.

Productivity SaaS for education is changing: a wake-up call for schools

April 5, 2025: For schools that have relied on productivity SaaS solutions for years, it’s a pivotal moment to reassess long-term needs. With providers like Google ending free unlimited storage in 2022 and Microsoft’s recent updates to their education offerings, institutions face significant challenges, including increased costs and reduced functionality. These developments underscore the importance of adopting systems that provide stability, scalability, and control.

After January 2025, Microsoft rolled out significant changes to its Microsoft 365 Education plans, including retiring the Office 365 A1 Plus plan, reducing storage pools to 100TB per tenant, and restricting some licenses to web-only applications without their counterpart desktop versions, including Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

These adjustments may push schools toward higher-cost paid plans or force them to reallocate resources to maintain functionality, prompting many to reevaluate their reliance on SaaS solutions. Beyond financial implications, there are also rising concerns over data privacy and compliance. Educational institutions manage high loads of sensitive information such as student records, financial data, and research. This makes them prime targets of cyberattacks, which target nearly 80% of institutions annually (Netwrix, 2024). Furthermore, compliance with regulations such as FERPA and GDPR requires secure, private, and auditable data management practices, which some SaaS solutions may struggle to meet.

Shifting to an on-premise productivity solution offers educational institutions increased control over their data, cost predictability, and storage scalability. Unlike SaaS offerings, prone to subscription price hikes and unpredictable removals to their service features, on-premise solutions can provide a stable framework more suited for long-term needs. Locally stored data also ensures privacy, helping schools meet compliance requirements while protecting sensitive information.

Some on-premise productivity solutions like Synology Office Suite enhance collaboration and communication with tools for secure file storage, granular sharing permissions, real-time document editing and instant messaging, supporting both group projects for students and file management among faculty.

For IT administrators, these solutions simplify management with centralized dashboards, system health monitoring, and auditing tools for compliance. Advanced access controls also enable efficient delegation of tasks across IT teams, ensuring smoother workflows and stronger oversight of digital infrastructure.

While changes from major SaaS providers might disrupt operations in the short term, they also provide an opportunity for educational institutions to reassess the suitability of their current systems. On-premise productivity solutions provide a sustainable pathway to address cost concerns, enhance security, and build a resilient digital foundation for evolving educational needs of educators and students alike.

MG Teases ADAS in Upcoming Windsor PRO

Gurugram, May 5, 2025 – JSW MG Motor India recently announced that the MG Windsor PRO will be launched soon in the Indian market.  The upcoming car will include new features that shall enhance the overall appeal of the MG Windsor for customers. In a newly released video, the company has indicated that the Windsor PRO will be equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), providing additional safety with every drive.

The Windsor PRO will be offered with Level 2 ADAS, which offers 12 major features and three levels of warnings – audio, visual, and haptic–always ensuring the safety of occupants. A few examples of these features include Traffic Jam Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Lane Departure Warning, among others.

The MG Windsor, India’s best-selling EV since its launch, combines a sedan’s expanse with a SUV’s versatility, making it a premium offering for discerning consumers who seek both value and class. The MG Windsor PRO will feature new tech features like Vehicle-to-Load and Vehicle-to-Vehicle, enabling customers to utilise the vehicle beyond mobility usage.