Following is the list of the guest lectures conducted at SIDTM in the duration 2022-2023

Following is the list of speakers invited for Induction of Batch(2023-2025) on the 12, 13,  15, 16,17^th June 2023.

Speaker:   Ms. Rukmani Chockalingam

Designation: Reporting and Compliance Manager

Organization:  Airtel Malawi

Profile:   Ms. Rukmani Chockalingam has over 5 years of Industry experience in IT Risk Advisory, Telecom Supply Chain Process, Reporting, and Compliance. She is currently working as a Reporting and Compliance Manager at Airtel Malawi. She is keen on analyzing processes and systems to identify the scope for process improvements and implementing transformations.

Date:  15th April 2021

Title:   Governance and Compliance

Details:    Ms. Rukmani Chockalingam started the session on an interactive note with an explanation of governance, whose responsibility it is, and its important pillars. It was explained that transparency and accountability are the two main important pillars of governance, and the main responsibility of governance lies on the board of directors of the company. Students got to know that governance is there to assure stakeholders and the external board of directors of the company.

She discussed that compliance involves adhering to rules, policies, standards, and laws set forth by industries and/or government agencies. Insights were given on the importance of two types of compliances: regulatory compliance and internal compliance. She explained the importance of training for employees and vendors once compliance is defined. The speaker shared her experience of minimum service level compliance to substantiate the importance of compliance. On being asked about the grey areas in governance, she explained with the following lines, ‘A chain is only as strong as its weakest link’. Further, she explained that at the time of two conflicting policy, corporate behavior and culture holds importance during the implementation of the process. Insights on developing skills and getting certifications were shared.

She explained the procure-to-pay (P2P) process. The importance of vendor selection/evaluation, purchase requisition, purchase order, invoice processing, and payments were described. P2P ERP process compliance was discussed. She gave an idea about ERP, Oracle and SAP are two of the best options. The lecture concluded with another round of question-answer sessions where insights on a prescriptive measure to cope up with a change in governance and compliance over time were given.

Speaker:   Mr. Gopal Jangir

Designation: Senior Consultant

Organization:  Ernst & Young Global Limited

Profile:   Mr. Gopal Jangir has over 5 years of industry experience in data analytics and continuous control monitoring. He is currently working as a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young Global Limited. He has handled the identification of key risks and mitigating controls and gap analysis. He provided practical recommendations to improve and strengthen controls.

Date:  3^rd April 2021 & 4^th March 2021

Title:   Data-driven decision making

Details:    The session started with the guest introducing the topic for the guest lecture and explaining to the students how decisions should be derived from the data available and how it drives the decision-making process. He proposed a case study to begin with, which entailed the students to suggest their opinions on various situations proposed to them by sir. There were two case studies discussed on Day 1. The focus of the case study 1 discussion was to raise the point that decision-making without any data or evidence is not possible. Each decision that is taken relies heavily on some sort of evidence or data. The next case study involved the batch calculating the market share, and help the company make critical decisions regarding the increased cost of the outsourced production and if in-house production will be feasible with a two-year payback as well as a long-term solution for the next 5 years.

The session on Day 2 started by the guest asking the students to present their solutions to the two cases given on the previous day to understand the thought process as well as to explain how today’s world is data-driven and we need to analyze any given data, complete or as per the client understanding and provide valuable inputs about wherever optimization of resources and cost-saving is possible.  The batch had attempted the case study in teams and come up with different approaches based on different assumptions and payback period. Sir, then shared his solutions and insights of how in-house production is feasible considering long-term payback. Sir also shared insights from his own experiences and projects he was involved with to help the batch better understand the vast domain and real-life examples of client interviews, on-site review, critical decision making, and client presentations aided by visual charts. The batch responded with a lot of interest and put forth a lot of questions which Sir answered with his expertise.

Speaker:   Mr. Deepak Tolani

Designation: Head Digital and CRM

Organization:  BookMyShow

Profile:  Mr. Deepak Tolani has experience of more than 9 years in brand marketing during which he has contributed to the business by creating great consumer experiences and has introduced many innovative products at effective prices for consumers keeping value. He is currently working as the Head of Digital and CRM at BookMyShow. His key responsibilities throughout the years included devising Digital Communication Strategies, Social Media Marketing, media buying, campaign and online reputation management, and online tie-ups with manufacturing brands for Co-Branded online engagements.

Date:    27^th February 2021

Title:     How to equip media buying & branding for changing consumer behavior?

Details:    Mr. Deepak Tolani started with an interactive approach towards explaining the different perspectives a consumer holds towards brands. He briefed us about the history of the word brand which is derived from the Old Norse word brandr or “to burn”. He explained how we do not look at brands objectively rather carry past experiences along in our subconscious mind to make any decision in making a purchase. A marketeer should know the art of establishing the brand to be able to do so. He spoke about how branding is defined and the new ways of looking at it like associating with causes, sharing bonds with communities who have a similar thought process, working with influencers, and the social media approach.

He shared about the media planning in 2021 which was optimizing the money spent through building an incremental reach curve through cross-media planning. Sainsbury's formula for media planning was recommended for us to go through as it would provide great insights for media planning. He explained about the evolution in media planning from print in the 1450s with various forms like posters, billboards, and magazines getting published to the audio-video which stepped in 1920s to the computers and mobiles of the present time which are whole new world among themselves.

We also learned the top lines in advertising in 2020 and forecasts involved till 2022 which saw digital media growing rapidly. He advised us on various techniques for marketing excellence such as keeping track of national and international trends, learning the science of branding and media planning, acquiring certificates, and exploring more through research and data mining. The lecture concluded with an interesting question-answer session where he gave different insights to the questions posed by students.

Speaker:   Ms. Chetna Bastani

Designation: Vice President

Organization:  Sitecore

Profile:   Ms. Chetna Bastani has a rich experience of more than 15 years in the industry where she has worked across different domains like Business Development, Sales, Cloud, and enterprise applications as well as partnerships and alliances. She is currently working as Vice President, Partners, and Alliances at Sitecore.

Date:        11th December 2020

Title:         Strategic partnerships in a digital world

Details:    Ms. Chetna Bastani started the session on an interactive note where the students got to learn about how a partnership can take a strategic edge.

They learned the importance of new products and services, expanding their reach into new markets, developing new customer segments, and the various ways for enhancing brand exposure. The ‘when’ part was explained utilizing a 2*2 matrix, wherein urgency and core functionality of the business/situation was plotted to determine the relevance and outcome of the partnership.

She proceeded further with the GTM model where she explained the different types of Independent Software Vendors (ISV). The three types of GTM models i.e.  ISV-SI, ISV-ISV, and reseller models.

She also discussed the pros and cons of the partnerships. She spoke about organic growth, strategic alliance, and acquisitions and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

She discussed the unique patterns that exist across geographies in terms of the alliance’s scope. The talking points for this concept were improving operations, new markets/customer segments, and new product design/development concerning various regions like APAC, Europe, North America, and other multiple regions. She mentioned the different objectives that should be kept in mind while working with different industry segments.

The lecture concluded with a small Q&A session where Ma’am interacted with the students and cleared their doubts.

Speaker:   Mr. David Samuel

Designation: Product manager

Organization:  Frontier Business System Pvt. Ltd.

Profile:   Mr. David Samuel has a rich experience of 14 years in the industry enabling corporates to find better profitability and productivity. He is an Alumnus of ICFAI Business School of Batch 2006 with an MBA post-graduate degree. He is currently working as a Product Manager Personal Computing at Frontier Business Systems Pvt Ltd.

Date:        27th November 2020

Title:        Experience sharing, Expectation management (KSA)

Details:    Mr. David Samuel began the discussion with an anecdote where he talked about his past experiences and how he grew in his corporate ladder keeping the essence of today's theme intact. He emphasized the importance of marketing and how to market ourselves in front of the interviewer. He also focussed on the importance of creating opportunities from nowhere and gave some examples of companies that did the same. Going forward he also talked about content marketing. He made students learn how to mold an interview in one's favor. He explained these by sighting his personal experience at BOSE.

Students learned different aspects of an excellent interview through a question-answer session. Answering questions asked by students he mentioned things to keep in mind when asked to introduce oneself within 30 seconds. He emphasized the importance of humor and how to make the interviewer ask for more. He then talked about points on how not to begin an introduction. Mr. Samuel also spoke about things to keep in mind while negotiating pay packages.

Additionally, he discussed how to answer questions revolving around strengths, weaknesses, and how to answer open-ended questions diplomatically. He went on and took queries on how and what to question an interviewer when given a chance.

Mr. Samuel then summed up every point he covered. He ended the session with an inspiring line “It's okay to be number 2 and 3, but never stop learning. Risk and fear are states of mind. Always be humble and it's ok to fail”

Speaker:   Ms. Neha Pansari

Designation: Deputy Vice President

Organization:  Axis Bank

Profile:   Ms. Neha Pansari has Industry experience in Corporate Banking, Trade Services, Retail Assets/ Liabilities, Infrastructure, and Facilities Management. She is currently working as Deputy Vice President at Axis Bank. She is an award winner of Women in AI Leadership 2019.

Date:        4th October 2021

Title:         Digital Transformation and Analytics in Finance

Details:    Ms. Neha Pansari started the session on an interactive note with the importance of digital transformation and analytics in finance. Key points and the various sorts of initiatives taken by the organizations to adopt digital transformations were explained. She explained the exact meaning of digital transformation and how it would be handy to people during the pandemic.

She emphasized the fact that we need digital transformation to cater to rising cost pressures and changing customer expectations. She explained that digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business. She said that it fundamentally changes how we operate and deliver values to customers. She discussed various examples of digital transformations like phone banking. E-locker, Alexa, online shopping, chatbots, etc. She explained the future of digital transformations and what changes we can expect because of the transformations. She shared her experience in designing new logic and framework for digital transformation in retail banking, trade, and treasury.

She explained that as we move to digital transformation, one thing that is continuously increasing is the amount of data generated. She spoke about the need for analytics to handle the huge amount of data at hand. She highlighted the importance of proper and accurate analysis of the data for proper insights. The use of analytical skills for continuous monitoring was discussed briefly. The lecture concluded with an explanation of the analysis and maturity model. The model involves a sequence of steps or stages that represent the evolution of a company and its ability to manage its internal and external data. This data is then used to make business decisions.

Speaker:   Mr. Pankaj Mittal

Designation: Founder and CEO

Organization: Digizen Consulting

Profile:   Mr. Pankaj Mittal has over 25 years of progressive leadership experience in the IT, security, and telecom industries in India and abroad. He is currently the chief executive officer at Digizen Consulting. He is the digital transformation strategist and a TEDx speaker as well.

Date:        2nd October 2021

Title:        Overview of AI/ML and blockchain

Details:    Mr. Pankaj Mittal started the session with an explanation of the essential part of data protection in the present scenario and the importance of blockchain in achieving it. The detailed discussion on various topics like the Impact of Blockchain on the Indian economy, DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and its use-cases, traditional vs smart contracts, and properties of blockchain: consensus, immutability, and provenance took place.

He gave various instances in which the above-mentioned aspects of blockchain technology can be used and how it would be beneficial to any firm. He gave relevant use cases of blockchain technology e.g., component track-and-trace using blockchain technology in the airline industry, using blockchain to help the government in collecting taxes, Blockchain-based Digital Identity.

He explained about different technologies and tools that are in demand. The concept of “AI in your Pocket” was explained with the details about various principles of AI/ML in the industry. He also explained how data exploration will form a major part of all the industries in the future. Additionally, he spoke on the following topics as well:

• NLP (Natural Language Processing)
• Sentiment Analysis
• Traditional Programming vs Machine Learning

The lecture concluded with a question-and-answer session where he interacted with the students and cleared the doubts on AI/ML and Blockchain.

Speaker:   Mr. Milind Shimpi

Designation: Associate Director

Organization:  LTI - Larsen & Toubro Infotech

Profile:   Mr. Milind Shimpi has over twenty years of experience and brings a unique accumulation of breadth, depth, and vision, in leading discussions on IT strategy/road map, capturing new demand, translating business outcomes. His expertise includes creating a culture of excellence in the organization and enabling it to achieve its stated vision through a structured framework. His main focus is on process improvement, quality, transformational initiatives, costing/budgeting activities, and other related best practices across organizations. He holds significant experience in Program Management of Discrete teams, Data Analytics, Data Warehousing, Intelligence, and Data Modeling Architecture. He holds excellence in managing end-to-end execution of complex & high valued DW/BI/Analytics projects/ Programs in a Global Delivery Model including scheduling & planning resources as per SLAs and balancing work distribution to meet project deliverables & delivery as per accuracy, budget & time norms.

Date:        05th September 2020

Title:         Role and Relevance of Marketing Analytics

Details:    Mr. Milind Shimpi introduced the students to the role of marketing analytics and how companies are making a profit using it. He explained about the analytics used and how Decision Support System helps businesses to assess and reduce risk and also helps in taking complex decisions using analytics. He gave a brief overview of the DIKW pyramid (Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom) and how data can be transformed into wisdom by doing the right analysis. He also explained the types of analytics used to find insightful details of the data, namely

• Descriptive Analytics
• Diagnostic Analytics
• Predictive Analytics
• Prescriptive Analytics

He then gave a brief overview of the process before applying the algorithm i.e., to get the data clean, training it, and then applying the algorithms. He also pointed out some of the algorithms that can be used at different levels of the data to find valuable results. He then covered the sales and marketing topic by giving his views on cross-selling and up-selling, social media analytics, natural language processing, and neuromarketing. He discussed some real-life case studies and some projects he had worked on giving a better understanding of the role of Marketing Analytics.

He also gave an overview of analytics process steps

• Collect Data
• Prepare the Data set
• Partition the Data
• Build Analytics Model
• Strategize and Act

He also explained the different technologies and tools that are in demand.

Speaker:  Mr. Manoj Mittal

Designation: Digital Transformation Officer

Organization:  Blue Rose Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Profile:  Mr. Manoj Mittal has a rich experience of 25 in the IT industry. He is currently the Digital Transformation officer at Blue Rose Technologies. Earlier he worked as Head of Telecom Media Entertainment Vertical at Sopra Steria, Senior Manager Development at Convergys, Director of Software Development at Infotech Software. He is a specialist in the area of Rightsizing, offshoring and Transition management, Delivery & Program Management, Consulting, Strategic account growth, Pre-sales, and Systems integration.

Date: 23^rd August 2020

Title: Digital transformation through blockchain disrupting banks & financial institutions and various intermediaries

Details: Mr. Manoj Mittal started this session with a discussion of the Importance and Need of Digital Transformation especially in the BFSI sector. He discussed the need and importance of blockchain in disrupting banks & financial institutions and various intermediaries. He discussed the traditional process vs the Blockchain-based process in the cross-border payment scenario. He later discussed the Distributed Ledger Technology, Immutable Ledger, Transparency, Security, Quick and Speedy Transaction, and cost-effective features of Blockchain Technology.

He discussed how blockchain evolved and its current happening across various verticals in the industry. Various blockchain used cases were discussed in different sectors such as supply chain, food industry, healthcare, retail industry, etc. All this was explained concerning how industries are adopting this technology to make their systems decentralized and distributed. The discussion was further about blockchain-enabled infrastructure which can be applied to banks and other financial intermediaries.

Speaker:   Mr. Shashi Tripathi

Designation: Partner Sales Manager

Organization:  Google India Pvt. Ltd

Profile:   Mr. Shashi Tripathi has over 20 years of experience in Sales and Business Development, Account Management, Operations and Project Management, Channel Management in the IT industry. His specialties: Sales and Business Development, Account Management, Operations and Project Management, Channel Management.

Date:        08th August 2020

Title:         Business Innovation through cloud during COVID times

Details:    Mr. Shashi Tripathi started the session by introducing the cloud and how we are using it in our day-to-day lives. A Brief discussion about different types of cloud was focused upon with examples. Public cloud was explained in detail and how it provides a shared platform and is being used for bringing innovation. Various relevant industry-specific Use cases were explained to the students. Students were also made aware of how companies are using the cloud to increase efficiency and how Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms are becoming new multiplexes with the help of the cloud, especially the public cloud. The presence of the cloud was discussed for various sectors. The power of data in the public cloud was also discussed with the students with relevant examples.

Speaker:   Mr. Koushik Balasubramanian

Designation: Senior Director- Business & Risk consulting

Organization:  Protiviti India Member Pvt. Ltd

Profile:   Mr. Koushik Balasubramanian has over 19 years of industry experience in Business Consulting, Process Transformation, Operations, and Internal Audit. He is currently working as a Senior Director- Business & Risk consulting at Protiviti India Member Pvt. Ltd. He has been a consistently high performer with leadership and Team Management Skills to effectively manage business operations in a dynamic & competitive environment.

Date:        2^nd August 2020

Title:         How to groom oneself professionally to excel in the consulting and internal audit domain.

Details:    Mr. Koushik Balasubramanian started the session on an interactive note by giving a brief picture of Consulting and Internal Audit domain. He emphasized what approach needs to be followed to excel in consulting and internal audit domain. Sir explained about different scenarios in consulting and how one can adjust to them and work well.  He also stated that “When you enter into professional life, one needs to de-learn and relearn”.

Sir also told the students to always have a perspective of how they can do things better than their peers did. He also emphasized to never compare yourself with others and never to be complacent and relaxed for work. He also explained risk consulting and internal audit. They go hand in hand and always analyze solutions before offering them to the customer. Learn not to react in situations but to respond in the situation.

Sir told the students to stay focused and determined for their work. He substantiated the concept with help of various real-life situations, which helped the students to understand it better. The session ended with a question-answer session where students interacted with Sir to clarify their doubts.

Speaker:   Mr. Ashutosh Mutsaddi

Designation: Senior Director

Organization:  NTT Data Corporation

Profile: Mr. Ashutosh Mutsaddi has over 20 years of experience across business development, innovation excellence, program management, pre-sales, digital transformation and alliances and ecosystem. Sir is currently senior director at NTT data corporation. He also worked as a senior consultant, SAP at Satyam computer services and engineering executive at Crompton greaves.

Date:   27th June 2020

Title:   Digital transformation and careers of the future

Details: During the session, the students learned about the impact of digital transformation on automation, innovations, greater shift to new strategies, and human interactions. Analysis was provided to have a brief idea about the operational tasks and innovation strategies implemented by the manager in his daily routine.

Various technological trends concerning the pandemic were discussed including Intelligent Automation – IoT, Big data, and Blockchain. Examples of automation were discussed in operations management, marketing, and financials.

The following topics were also discussed during the session:

• Machine Learning
• IoT
• Big data
• Impact on jobs of tomorrow
• Focus on human interaction

A doubt clearing session was conducted in the end to understand students’ perspectives and address the doubts from students of all streams.

Speaker:   Mr. Jaidev Dutta and Mr. Abhishek Pathak

Designation:  Mr. Jaidev Dutta: Director - Data Analytics & Intelligent Automation and

Mr. Abhishek Pathak: Associate Director – Analytics & Cognitive

Organization:  Deloitte

Profile: Mr. Jaidev Dutta has over 18 years of industry experience in the design and implementation of Enterprise Data and Analytics platforms and solutions. He has extensively worked on powering digital transformation through Data Analytics and Automation. He is currently working as  Executive director in Deloitte.

Mr. Abhishek Pathak has over 18 years of Industry experience. He is a Data and Analytics leader and has led and delivered multiple large scales and IT transformation programs with a focus on Enterprise Data management including Data Strategy, Business/IT Alignment, Business Value Assessment/Roadmaps, Data Integration and advance analytics. He has worked in the US for over 14 years for client-facing, solution leadership roles for cross industries like Healthcare, Banking & Financial, FMCG, Pharma and Travel & Hospitality.

Date:        23rd May 2020

Title:         Data - An Organizational Asset

Details: During the session, Mr. Jaidev Dutta and Mr. Abhishek Pathak discussed how data is the new telecom king and enabler of the digital world. The role of Analytics to acquire large amounts of data with quality analytics being the discussion point. They focussed on sharing their viewpoints on treating data as an asset and its proper utilization by various organizations.

They introduced the batch to a new terminology namely “Data Lake” by discussing practical aspects of it in the industry, the necessity of data lake to solve business problems with the help of data analysis and initiation.

During the doubt clearing session, they tried to understand students’ perspectives and address the doubts from students of all streams including Marketing and Systems too. He discussed the Data as an Asset, Role of Data Lake in Analytics, Practical Aspects of Industrial Usage in Data Lake Topics in detail.

Speaker:   Prof. Vasundhara Sen

Designation: Visiting Faculty of SIDTM

Organization:  SCMHRD

Profile: Prof. Vasundhara Sen holds a Ph.D. degree in energy economics, with 16 years of work experience in the industry and energy research. Currently, she is into academics, teaching courses in economics and renewable energy, researching India's renewable energy transition and consulting in related areas. She also worked as a Deputy Manager in Suzlon Energy Ltd for over 5 years.

Date:        26th April 2020

Title:         Latest RBI Release and how the country is coping up with the lockdown.

Details:    During the session, Prof. Vasundhara Sen talked about the various measures taken in the latest RBI Release. The activities of RBI and government during this period and the points mentioned in the RBI Release were also discussed by her in detail. She discussed the steps which the country is taking to cope up with the lockdown along with the major changes RBI has taken. She introduced the changes in monetary policy and also Targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO) to the students. Through questions, she also talked about which sector might do well despite this situation. The continuous decline in crude oil prices and their impact were explained to the students. She further discussed the impact on the jobs of the people due to the lockdown. She discussed the Fiscal Stimulus Packages and Monetary Policy in detail.

Speaker: Mr. Amit Gupta has over 11 years of Industry experience in Product Management, Pricing, Business Strategy, Business Development, New Product Development, Marketing & Communication. He is currently working as an Associate Director at KPMG. He has been a consistent high performer with leadership and Team Management Skills to effectively manage business operations in a dynamic & competitive environment.

On 31 st July SIDTM (Formerly SITM) had invited Mr. Amit Gupta to deliver guest lecture to the 2 nd year MBA Batch. The opening question being regarding the expectations of the audience from the lecture, the stage was all set for an interactive session.Narrating the Zen Master story, Sir emphasized the importance of the concept of learning, unlearning and relearning. Talking about the marketing concepts, he presented his take on the 4Ps and how they have been incorporated in our lives.Depicting the trends which swiped the Indian economy during 90’s, 2000 and 2008 marking the era of Liberalization, IT revolution and even recession, he highlighted that being a young country , India showed the world that it is not as vulnerable as others thought it to be . With the advent of cashless society,instant gratification and rise of digital consumer India has come a long way. The future being marked with disruptive technologies like augmented reality, social media, mobility , cloud computing , big data , embedded system etc. have led to a nonlinear consumer buying process because of the way services are being marketed, these were some of the insights sir dwelled upon.

He also touched the various aspects of product management, providing the audience with enough food for thought regarding brand salience, brand imagery,brand tracking, loyalty framework, reasons for customer churn etc. In terms of telecom he also mentioned that the operators should collaborate with OTT players in order to increase data usage .The session was made interesting with the use of relevant audio visuals and examples . He encouraged the student to put forward their view point on the topics being discussed and garnished them with his expertise.

"GREENOVATION- Innovations in Telecom for a Greener Environment" was a thought-provoking panel discussion, which revolved around the constraints in telecom technologies and some of the viable solutions for a greener environment. The discussion started with a simple question of “What is Green?” after which the panelists elaborated further on it, yielding the fact that the total carbon dioxide emission globally is about 40 Gigatons and is expected to increase up to 52 Gigatons till 2020, a prime concern for our planet.

Renewable energy technologies like hydrogen and methanol fuel cells, solar and wind energy have contributed to a minor decline in the carbon footprint but these sources are not commercially viable as telecom industry lacks proper infrastructure and aptly trained people for these technologies.

Policies and regulations play a vital role in these kind of innovations to step-up. The Government of India has issued a notice to all telecom operators to make all towers in India hybrid by 2020. Energy Efficient Solutions like consolidation of devices for less power consumption which actually means consolidation of all microwave components in one box and all antenna components in another could well be a game changer. The use of single RAN technology and self-defined networks are going to be the future of telecom industry.

Speaker: Mr. Priyank Chandra,Senior Strategy Consultant, IBM Global Business Services After a trail blazing two months of summer internship, the students were treated by a mesmerising Lavale weather, but were also reminded of what lies ahead – the Placements Season. The batch was provided with added motivation as Mr. Priyank Chandra of IBM interacted with them on 19th June, 2015. A proud alumnus, Mr. Priyank talked about the positive changes that he had observed in the batch after working in the industry. He revisited the checklist he had shared with the batch before the summer internship period, and reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of many students. An energetic mentor that he is, Mr. Priyank humorously pointed out some areas of improvements for the students as he talked about project reports and INTERVIEWS. He also stressed on the importance of reading and sharing of information and ideas within the batch, and staying up to date with the latest happenings in the Telecom sector.

Speaker: Ms.Manasi Phadke, Economist, eminent Faculty and Consultant.

Topic: Union Budget 2014-15

She gave valuable insights about the Union Budget 2014-15. She started by making the students aware of the importance of the Union Budget followed by its basic constituent elements. She threw light on the entire economic perspective and the policies of the country which included the Fiscal and the Monetary Policy. Also, she emphasized on the role of our new Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi in constructing a budget which focussed on developing long term assets of our country such as infrastructure, defence, efficient education system and so on which will in turn help in reducing the Fiscal Deficit value significantly. Moreover, she talked about what the new budget promises in terms of opportunities for students in the telecommunication sector. All in all, the session was an enriching experience for the students.

Speaker: Mr.Vikram Pendse, Subject Matter Expert - Windows Azure & Application Migration Capability at Avanade India Development Center

Topic: Windows Operating System-The Road Ahead

He started by explaining some of the key features of Windows OS which play a major role in differentiating it from the market leaders like iOS and Android. He also shared his experience while working on various projects with Microsoft emphasizing on the fact that Windows is one of the easiest platforms for any developer to work on. Moreover, he threw some light on Microsoft's strategy behind Nokia's acquisition and the steady growth of both the companies together from then on. On being asked about the future of Windows OS in Mobiles, he discussed the upcoming trends in the Windows OS and how they will keep the customers engaged.

N"DIGITALIS - Stimulating Marketing Opportunities", a mesmerising Panel Discussion threw light over various upcoming trends and technologies in the telecom market. The motive revolved around providing a platform to converge various viewpoints on the mobile marketing and hence, analysing data using big data which could directly impact social and digital media.

Social and digital media in recent years have come up with an aid to customer engagement. A broadened perspective over this customer engagement involves many advantages in the areas of sales and revenue generation from the company's point of view and knowledge transfer from customer's point of view.

With the evolution of social and digital media, data on an extremely large scale is being generated every second. Here comes the importance of Analytics & Big data which unfolds as a cure for marketing myopia and boon for customised marketing.Hence evolves the ease of customised Mobile marketing and mobile devices- changing face of online sales and lead generation.

Name: Mr Girish Patwardhan, Sales and Distribution consultant

Topic: Innovative marketing strategies and sales cycle

Mr Girish Patwardhan, at the beginning of the lecture, shared his valuable experience during his tenure with various prestigious organizations like Cadbury, Kevincare, Reliance retail etc. With the help of a short film, he explained various stages of a sales cycle and the challenges pertaining to sales in different industry verticals. He also discussed about the need of innovative methods in formulating the marketing strategies in today's competitive environment.

Speaker: Mr Anuj Ashokan, President, TSDSI

Topic: Upcoming Trends in M2M Technologies

At the outset of SIDTM (Formerly SITM) becoming member of prestigious TSDSI (Telecom Standard Development Society of India), it was an honour to have Mr Anuj Ashokan, Subject Matter Expert- M2M, President (TSDSI) and an esteemed alumnus of the institute to share his thoughts with students. He is currently working with TTSL in Planning and Implementation of M2M technologies. It was an excellent opportunity for students to gain valuable insights about the upcoming trends in M2M and what value SIDTM (Formerly SITM) can add to the future of industry. He shared his experience about the challenges faced while implementing M2M and the road ahead. During the discussion, he emphasized the fact that India, by no means is lagging behind other countries in implementing M2M and it's up to institutes like SIDTM (Formerly SITM) to take the initiative forward.

Speaker: Mr.Durga Prasad Dube, Chief Information Security Officer, Reliance Industries

Title: Global trends in Cyber Security

The session threw light on how systems can be protected from malicious attacks when now-a-days the vulnerabilities are so prominent. As the digital revolution is picking pace, we are exposed to threats more than ever before. Mr. Dube emphasized that cloud computing offers numerous benefits but it also enables hackers to better mystify the source of their attacks. The unknown vulnerabilities the system is exposed to are called 'Zero Day attacks'. He raised a concern that even after investing so much in this field there is no decrease in susceptibility of attacks. He discussed the various trends arising from cyber-attacks and threats posed by them. Towards the end, he stressed upon the urgency and criticality associated with the threats to the cyber space, the need to predict solutions for the threats to be posed in future and the role government, legal bodies and awareness among people can play in protection of the cyber space.

Speaker: Mr. Mukul Chopra, Head-Engagement and Strategy, Aircel

Title: Importance of Executive Presence

Mr. Mukul Chopra's lecture on 'Importance of Executive Presence' explained executive presence and its importance in an organization. His insights on how an individual can make his presence felt in a large organization were a big value addition to the knowledge of students. He explained this methodology using the P.I.E. Model i.e. Performance, Image and Exposure. The model explained how to create a good personal image and get one's presence felt in the organization. According to the model, the first principle for sustainable excellence at work is an individual's performance. The second part of this model i.e. 'Image' emphasized the need to create a good perception and reputation of oneself in minds of peers in the company. The third and last component of this model i.e. 'Exposure' is concerned about exposure we create for ourselves. Towards the end of the session, he also addressed queries of students concerned to importance of content presentation and expectations from new joiners in an organization.

Speaker: Dr. Sumit Chowdhury, President, Enterprize Eco-system, Reliance Jio Infocomm

Topic: Rules of The Game: Discover, Learn, Invent the art of speeding up your career

Dr. Sumit started with saying that learning is something that never stops and we keep learning through our experiences. There is a need for everyone to reinvent themselves every day in order to differentiate oneself from others. Dr. Sumit said that one has to identify set of rules which apply to him- 'Keep doing things till you are really good at it and inculcate this kind of rigour and discipline in yourself'. He said that everyone has a purpose in life and to achieve it, one has to transform himself. Most of the times we don't realise our purpose and avoid going out and getting hammered but we must understand that if we state our purpose clearly the whole world would conspire to fulfil it.

In response to a query regarding experiments in life, he replied that one should experiment with connected things so as to create a story. Keep exploring options in order to make good decisions. Keep transforming the definition of success because goals keep changing at every stage in life.

Dr. Sumit concluded by saying that the things which you don't want to do are your biggest limitations. We should not let constraints affect us rather we should learn how to manage our career after we have made a choice to weave our experiences into something more meaningful.