End-to-end Engineering with Global Engineering Services

The growth of industrialization and the pace at which the business world heads towards globalization, enterprises need to utilize the best of industry technologies to meet the growing demands for new age engineering products. Bringing in an estimated value addition of nearly $ 530 billion worth  in 2012 , the engineering services turns out as one of the largest sections of the industrial world. Further with service activity accompanying the core engineering functions that changes according to industrial requirements, the engineering service industry expands to over a trillion dollar value.


The engineering services which comprises of a number of design and support services for various industries is benefited substantially with the expansion of the industry into various international markets. Having gained access to markets internationally, the enterprises now offer global engineering services along with the improved flow of goods. Globalization which has led to an increase in the demand for engineering services also paves way for the enterprises to offer cost benefits and gain a competitive edge by providing  specialized capabilities.


With  engineering services having entered the automotive, telecom, aerospace, consumer electronics, semiconductor and pharmaceuticals industry, the enterprises gain support from these through the complete product life cycle. Product design and modeling, analysis, prototyping, automation, data documentation, instrumentation and controls, embedded systems development, manufacturing support and vendor management being covered under  the  global engineering service, the major chunk of the engineering service spending is taken up by the telecom and automotive industries while aerospace, industrial, construction and defense sectors  take  up the smaller share.


With the global markets becoming increasingly competitive, the business environment turns towards engineering services outsourcing. The advent of globalization saw  only production and low-end engineering operations to be outsourced from international markets. However, with increase in customer demands and other factors like low labor and production costs and expertise in handling all engineering processes, enterprises today outsource high-value engineering services too from the overseas markets. Thus India and China are becoming one of the fastest growing and fiercely competitive global engineering service markets.


Today a large number of the engineering services are outsourced because:


* It helps enterprises to focus on core activities

* Brings in reduced timelines, labor costs leading to reduction in overall costs incurred.

* Increased product quality

* Provides flexibility

* Faster turnaround times

* Helps retain knowledge

* Manage resources cheaper


Besides these factors, engineering outsourcing of helps to enhances the profitability and transform the enterprise into a global force.


Nevertheless, with innovative technologies finding its place in the product design and  product development, it helps to enhance the  functionalities and performance of the products. By adopting the new-age technologies, the global engineering service providers ensures  safety, reliability and reduction in product design costs besides ensuring the products to be regulatory compliant.


Related Links: Integrated Engineering Services, engineering product design

Make FBAR Compliance Easy and Smooth

FBAR, which stands for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, is a tax imposed by the federal government on any United States person having a financial interest in, signature authority, or other authority over one or more financial accounts in foreign countries. However, no report needs to be filed if the aggregate value of the accounts does not exceed $10,000. Now, the terms United States person and financial account though seem simple and straightforward, it is not so. Hence, a careful understanding of these terms is necessary to avoid confusion.


The term “United States person” means (1) a citizen or resident of the United States, (2) a domestic partnership, (3) a domestic corporation, or (4) a domestic estate or trust. While the term financial account includes any bank, securities, securities derivatives or other financial instruments accounts. The term includes any savings, demand, checking, deposit or any other account maintained with a financial institution or other person engaged in the business of a financial institution. Financial account also generally includes any accounts in which the assets are held in a commingled fund, and the account owner holds an equity interest in the fund (including mutual funds). While, individual bonds, notes, or stock certificates held by the filer are not a financial account nor is an unsecured loan to a foreign trade or business that is not a financial institution. Hence, U.S. residents, expats and dual citizens having foreign bank account are required to comply with FBAR regulations.


The IRS amnesty came up with the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), when it was found that FBAR compliance was too low. And with OVDP, the IRS was able to collect more than $5 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties from 33,000 disclosures made under the first two IRS programs. The third program resulted in 1500 disclosures, though the amount collected is still under wraps. There is news that IRS is in the midst of introducing a new Amnesty Voluntary Disclosure Program believed to be run from March to October of 2013. Hence, it is a good idea to take the services of a good tax consulting company for assistance. Here is a look at the benefits of collaborating with a leading tax consulting service provider.


* Total compliance, Peace of mind Guaranteed!

* Consultation and Impact Analysis

* Analysis and Planning to reduce FBAR Penalty

* AMT Strategies, Foreign Tax Credit

* Mutual Fund or PFIC computations

* Preparation of forms required to participate in the OVDP program

* Preparation of Tax Amendments and Delinquent FBAR

* IRS Representation by Enrolled Agents or Affiliated CPAs and Attorneys


As FBAR imposes strict and harsh penalties, tax consultants can help in making FBAR compliance easy and smooth.


Read More About: Entity Formation, OVDP

A Quick Glance At Who Must File 2012 Returns

Anyone who received an income of any sort in the year  2012, would essentially need to file a tax return in 2013. The amount of income, filing status, age and the type of income received will determine whether one is  required to file. There are also instances of getting a refund when there is too much federal income tax withheld from your pay or qualify for certain tax credits. There is also instances b when you don’t need to file a tax return this year, but may still want to file, and here are a few reasons that may be so:


* In an instance when the federal income tax is withheld


If you are due for a refund in case your employer has withheld federal income tax from your pay, or if you made estimated tax payments, or if you had a prior year overpayment applied to this year’s tax, you could file a return to claim any excess tax paid during the year.


* Earned Income Tax Credit


Anyone who has worked but earned less than $50,270 last year, would qualify for EITC. EITC is a refundable tax credit; which means that if you are eligible you could receive EITC as a tax refund. Families with qualifying children may qualify to get up to $5,891 dollars, and it is not possible to get the credit unless you file a return and claim it. It makes good sense to use the EITC Assistant to find out if you qualify.


* Additional Child Tax Credit


If you have at least one eligible child and you don’t get the full amount of the Child Tax Credit, you may qualify for this additional refundable credit. It would be essential to file and use new Schedule 8812, Child Tax Credit, to claim the credit.


* American Opportunity Credit


Anyone who is a student or supports a student may be eligible for this credit. Students in their first four years of postsecondary education can qualify for as much as $2,500 through this partially refundable credit. Even those who owe no tax can get up to $1,000 of the credit as cash back for each eligible student. It would be essential to file Form 8863, Education Credits, and submit it with your tax return to claim the credit.


* Health Coverage Tax Credit


Anyone receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance, Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance or pension benefit payments from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, may be eligible for a 2012 Health Coverage Tax Credit. Spouses and dependents could also be eligible and if eligible, can receive a 72.5 percent tax credit for payments made for qualified health insurance premiums.


A well thought-out tax planning strategy is usually the best thing that can legally minimize tax liabilities. Be proactive in your tax planning and take the help of an experienced tax professional who can provide expert guidance and also help in determining how changes in the tax laws will affect you and what is necessary to reduce future tax liability.


Read More About: Foreign Bank Account, FBAR, IRS Amnesty, Entity Formation

Importance of Big Data Applications

Advancements in digital sensors, computation, communications and storage have created big collections of data, capturing valuable information for science, business, government and society. For instance, the search engine companies like Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft have set up a completely new business by offering data freely available on the World Wide Web and offering it to people in useful ways. These organizations gather trillions of data bytes each day and keep on adding new services for instance driving direction, satellite images and image retrieval. The society benefits from these services and has transformed the way people find and utilize data regularly.


Similar to the way search engines have changed the way to access data, other kinds of big data applications too will change the initiatives of companies, scientific researchers and intelligence operations. The majority of the technology for big data applications is being developed at a satisfactory pace owing to technological evolution. For instance, the disk drive capacity is increasing and the cost is going down to the continuous process of magnetic storage servers technology and the huge economies of scale offered by both personal computers and large data centers.


Big Data Application Companies


Today service providers specializing in data center solutions integration have come up with big data applications. They have expert professionals who have experience in hardware technology companies. They worked with big data companies and realized it is challenging the loopholes that these companies face. They have set up some work methodologies that fulfill the requirements of these companies. Big data applications provided by them leads to the following key benefits:


* Integrated hardware and software for streamlined installation and optimal performance

* Enhanced assistance from single point of contact

* In-house expense integration is reduced enabling you to concentrate on supporting and developing the application software

* The expense of managing inventory, RMA’s, EOL components and warranties are reduced

* The product Lifecycle management system of these companies shall make sure that the product is viable


Over the years it has been observed that the bid data applications over-engineer their appliance or hardware platforms. This indicates increased expenses, low quality performance and waste of precious time. Keeping this in mind, the big data companies have come up with the powerful and advanced software that would ensure complete compactness whilst designing and setting up the client’s hardware. These companies have been able to bring down the cost of hardware and also maximizing the performance in most cases.


Read More About: Network Server, Big Data Partnership, Security Application Partners, Datacentre Solutions Integration

Custom Computer Solutions to Overcome App Software Deployment Issues

Customers normally face many problems when deploying application software. Given below are some of these challenges.


* Increased support calls

* Application may run poorly

* Hardware & existing software compatibility issues

* Requires a highly trained technical staff for  the end-user

* Installation requires more time

* Increased chance of human error

* Must be installed on the end-users existing servers

* May need additional OS or hardware components

* Slower channel adoption

* Distribution channels having limited installation ability

* Elongates sales process based on other costly H/W and S/W requirements


These problems occur when customers try to install applications through user-installed software. However, customers can eliminate these issues by performing application software deployment through server appliance. Here is a look at some of its benefits.


* Reduced support cases

* Tested hardware rules out compatibility issues

* Significantly higher reliability

* Server appliance optimized for application

* Out of the box deployment/plug and play capabilities

* Minimal technical skills needed for installation           

* Improved user experience

* Streamlined software updates

* OS and application software is pre-loaded

* Quicker time to market

* Opens up multiple sales channels


Server appliance is actually a custom-built standalone, dedicated server (or in a clustered configuration) specifically designed to optimize performance of application software with minimal end-user support. With server appliance, customers can easily install and seamlessly begin using, thus accelerating time to market, reducing support costs, and opening up multiple sales channels. Hence, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) must collaborate with providers of custom computer solutions to develop and support innovative hardware server appliance solutions. This allows OEMS to focus on developing software that meet customer requirements. Here is a look at the benefits offered by a best of the breed custom computer systems.


* Complete RMA support

* EOL component notifications

* Inventory control

* Component roadmaps for new product releases

* Maintaining ISO certifications for ensured quality

* Help meet requirements for regulatory compliance      

* Partnerships with various vendors such as Microsoft and Intel

* On site and 24x7-phone support

* Branding with custom bezels and labels

* Global shipping logistics

* Integration staff and facilities

* Reduced time-to-market

* Enhanced schedule flexibility

* Decreased unnecessary cost

* Reduced overall operational risk


Thus, application software companies developing software in the security, medical, robotics, networking, telecom, military, aerospace sectors and so on can benefit by choosing custom computer solution providers for delivering their products.


Read More About: Big Data Applications, Security Applications, Datacenter Solutions Integration, enterprise storage server

Stay Competitive with Idea Management Software

Walter Lippmann, a famous US author and journalist once said, "When all think alike, then no one is thinking." This is absolutely true of almost all manufacturing and service organizations where everyone is satisfied with meeting immediate market demands. Thinking out of the box or thinking differently is a challenging task for most of them. Hence, they confine themselves to certain set offerings. But staying just relevant doesn’t give enterprises the competitive edge required to survive in today’s dynamic, fast-paced and volatile business environment.


There exists a very thin line between success and failure; a single idea can suddenly change the fortunes of an organization. The story of Christopher Brennan definitely proves that point. When working as the regional manager for British Petroleum's (BP) sixteen hundred gas stations in Germany, Christopher Brennan implemented an innovative idea that changed the very perception of the consumers regarding the gas stations.


Looking for a way to improve gas station revenues, Brennan combined digital technology and partnerships with merchants and credit card companies to start the BP multimedia shopping kiosk where consumers got advice on everything from food to fashion. Consumers gave the new concept big thumbs up since it helped them overcome their shopping woes. Thus, Brennan was able to transform smelly gas stations into shopping centers which helped to improve not only gas station revenues but also the quality of shopping experience of the customers. This amply proves that the difference between success and failure in business could be just one idea.


Traditionally only a few select individuals were entrusted with the task of researching and exploring ideas. However, today enterprises realize the fact that the business success does not depend on a few select individuals. People making decisions need ideas, information, perspectives and the benefit of others’ experience and the best place to get this valuable input is in organization’s own assets, the employees, customers and suppliers. Feedbacks, suggestions and recommendations from employees, partners, vendors and customers regarding product, service and process improvements are all important.   


Hence, the best way to channelize ideas is to deploy idea management software as it helps to seamlessly enable


* People (employees, partners, vendors, customers and public) involvement in ideation and innovation

* Collective intelligence

* Collaboration across strata to support a common cause

* Free flowing feedbacks, suggestions and recommendations for betterment of products, services and processes


Thus, with an idea management platform, enterprises can engage both internal and external sources in the innovation cycle and thereby attain growth, improvement and sustainability.


Read More About: idea management services, managing innovation, innovation products

Churn out New Ideas with Idea Management Software

Innovation is the key to business success, especially in today’s fast paced highly competitive business environment. Instead of going with the flow and disappearing into the crowd, innovative thinking helps to capture ideas, explore them and generate possibilities that keep one ahead of the competition.


The thought process put in place by the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel to attract customers is one of the most interesting and innovative processes that comes to mind. When the visitors come on their website what they get to read is “The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel has been proudly disappointing travelers for forty years. Boosting levels of comfort comparable to a minimum-security prison, the Hans Brinker also offers some plumbing and an intermittently open canteen, serving a wide range of dishes based on runny eggs.”


With the aim to attract customers, the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel has taken the extreme step that no one would dare in the service industry. As a result of this campaign, they have been christened as the “Worst Hotel in the World". Their advertising is daring, confrontational and at times plain offensive and contains no flattering adjectives but cleverly written honest claims. These include statements like, 'It can't get any worse, But we'll do our best', 'Improve your immune system - stay at Hans Brinker!' ‘Accidentally eco-friendly’  or the modest claim, 'Now with beds in every room.'


They claim to have taken "honesty to the extreme" and have created clever ad campaigns keeping the expectations of customers low. However, the hotel’s harsh honest statements have been a hit and have connected well especially with the backpackers and students. Since the launch of the campaign all the 127 rooms at the hotel are rarely empty. This sums up the importance of innovative thinking and also proves a point that successful marketing requires neither huge budget nor a sugarcoated version of the truth.


In the services industry, there is a huge scope for innovation, but most service organizations confine themselves to certain set offerings that meet the immediate market demand.  They are not interested in refining their thought process to keep their services more than just relevant. They fail to surmise the fact that ‘When you innovate, you essentially move into an area of least competition.’


However, to innovate, service organizations need to bring various stakeholders such as vendors, employees and customers together on one shared platform. When all ends of the system are brought together then only it can result in not just ideas for offering impeccable service, but also the all-important feedback on the idea. This is where idea management software can help to manage, screen and implement viable ideas. Thus, with an idea management system, service organizations can manage the challenges, churn out new ideas and expedite business growth swiftly and effortlessly.


Read More About: management idea, idea management solutions, innovative management solutions, innovation products

Protect Your Brand Reputation with Advanced Solutions

Your company’s brand is one of its most valuable assets, and just like any other asset it needs to be well-protected. It is a known fact that organizations spend a great amount of time, resource and money to establish their brand. And although initially meant for identifying and differentiating a product, over the years a company’s brand stands for performance, and the company's values. Brands have begun to play a bigger role in the market performance as they have the power to communicate with consumers.  This is mainly why brand protection has become a serious issue. There is an urgent need for enterprises to deal with counterfeiters who want to steal their brand name and customers, that consequently causes an adverse impact on the image of the company.

 

The increasing number of high-profile counterfeiting episodes, affects the consumers, and this is in turn has necessitated constant monitoring of  brand. Brand monitoring involves “strategically and regularly investigating online resources in order to discover and when necessary react to references to your companies’ trademarks and potentially the trademarks of your competitors.” In today’s competitive business environment, brand monitoring is an effective means of protecting one’s brand name from losing credibility in the market.


Enterprises thus need to have a cohesive anti-counterfeiting and brand protection strategy in place that works in synchrony with the enterprise requirements. Counterfeit detection is a critical issue and to defend and protect a company’s brand, channels and marketing investments from these ever-evolving online risks, it is imperative to invest in a protection solution that leverages technology to counter all technology-borne problems.


There is a need for a reliable solution that is effective over the entire supply chain. Invest in a solution that provides visibility into knowing which exact products are being counterfeited and how much they are being discounted for, in order to cease this continuous revenue and brand erosion. The solution you invest in must be used within a perceptive user interface by offering the users the scope to set up and manage case histories, evaluate evidence and understand better the connection between suspect enterprises, partners and other allied contacts. It must also use advanced search technology to not only monitor activity for any number of products globally, but also pick up pricing, and quantities for each product and help to quickly identify the companies that cause loss of revenue, brand, and customer satisfaction.

Invest in an efficient solution that can protect your brand reputation and  ensure that your businesses has the opportunity to stop the fraudulent activities from occurring. An anti-counterfeiting solution with brand protection technology ensures that violators can be quickly identified and stopped.


Read More About: enterprise risk management, brand management, gray market

Combat Gray Market Sales with Brand Management Solutions

Gray market activities have become increasingly prevalent over the past few years. The most prevailing wisdom in marketing is to make use of extreme enforcement for deterring gray marketers. However, the speed and certainty of enforcement might also depend on the violation incidence.


In the modern day competitive market, manufacturers are depending increasingly on their authorized distributors to conduct value-added functions. To secure the distributor incentives to conduct these services, the manufacturers generally implement resale restrictions through implicit agreements or explicit contracts. By circumscribing to whom the distributors might sell or resell, the restrictions limit the intra brand competition and help to retain distributor margins.


Gray market activities, i.e. the sale of original trademarked items or products through the distribution channels unapproved by the brand owner/manufacturer, poses a significant threat to the manufacturer’s that have executed resale restrictions. Owing to the free reign, gray marketers can set up free-riding concerns amidst the distributors that offer consumer service, make a selective distribution system more intensive and also harm distributors that have made certain investments in the distribution channel.


Therefore, gray market is problem prone for manufacturers as it has a negative influence on distributor relations along with the manufacturer’s brand equity that undermines the integrity of the distribution channel. Gray market is also endemic all over, though not restricted to, a wide selection of industries varying from equipment, mobiles, high-tech products, medicines, watches, perfumes and other types of consumer products.


Service providers specializing in enterprise risk management with their brand management solutions, that is a SaaS based software can help companies to retrieve loss revenues, brand equity, market share that has been lost owing to the gray market. The solution also tightens the value chain and monitors the open market for buy/sell product listings and part numbers making use of efficient search agents that can capture detailed market information from a wide range of market source types, such as:


* Franchise and large distribution websites

* Independent and gray market web sites

* Email-based forums that aggregate buy/sell listings

* Trade boards

* Auction sites

* Chat

* B2C sites

* Blogs

* B2B sites


Unlike the generic programs, advanced brand management solutions offer the data in real-time to the consumer directly through a web portal in a complete, multi-dimensional market intelligence format, from which customized dashboard, user formatted data export files and custom report views can be set up. All the information is available and used within an intuitive user interface that offers the investigators with the capacity to develop and monitor case histories, evaluate evidence and better understand associations between the suspect partners, companies and associated contacts.


Read More About: brand reputation, Anti-Counterfeiting

Brand Management Solutions in the Wake of Counterfeits

No brand climbs the success ladder overnight. The success of every brand lies in the operational and marketing strategies of the enterprises.  It is the cumulative result of years of hard work put in by their product development teams, marketing professionals and their customer centric service that help them build a strong customer relationship. With so much of effort going into making of a brand, enterprises need to have adequate brand management processes in place  to protect the same.  


Results of a survey conducted by Vancouver-based consultancy shows that buying decisions of 72% of consumers’ are influenced by the brand reputation and brand names and nearly 80 percent of employees prefer working for reputed brands at the cost of less pay packet.  Brand becomes a mark of distinction for the business and a promise to the customers.


Brand management refers to the application of various marketing techniques to increase customer's perception of a product, product line, value and services leading to increase in franchise and brand reputation.


Effective brand management will include steps to protect the brand from counterfeiting and legal actions against trademark usage. The counterfeit products market thrives with availability of customers to buy products at bargain offers. Further with the internet and e-commerce every enterprise tries for a web footing providing more scope for the counterfeits. Thus in today's techno savvy world counterfeiting has evolved as one of the fast growing and far-reaching crimes effecting industry verticals.


Being the lifeline of business, technology giants are working on innovative techniques to help enterprises with effective solutions for protecting and managing the brand from counterfeiting, Phishing, false advertising and movement of website traffic to fraudulent sites. Further, to combat high operational overheads, global enterprises make use of lower cost regions of manufacturing their products and components. Such outsourcing of the production lines to low cost regions puts protection of intellectual properties at stake.


With the widely spread counterfeiting market today effecting most industry verticals, the global enterprises face the challenge of providing brand management solutions to a multinational environment. Further, as counterfeiting affects the enterprise's IP and unique selling propositions, they need to implement effective anti-counterfeiting solutions that will provide them with online fraud protection solutions as well as safeguard their brand reputation.Nevertheless, with the advancement in technology, enterprises can today build up strategies that involve social media and web based solutions that will enable


* 24/7  search on internet violations

* Locate new targets,  large players and networks that sell counterfeits

* Extensive research on target audience to convert them to a customer


Integrating social media with online media marketing only facilitates enterprises through effective management of the brand's reputation and successful brand management techniques.


Read More About: enterprise risk management, gray market.