Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
Model N, Inc. (NYSE: MODN), the leader in revenue optimization and compliance, published its sixth annual State of Revenue Report, revealing life sciences and high-tech executives’ top business priorities and challenges. The company’s 2024 report named process efficiency and cost-saving measures as priorities for executives, with greater emphasis placed on advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve these priorities. For a second year in a row, supply chain disruption emerged as one of the top obstacles to innovation across all industries.
Other innovation hurdles include changing and unpredictable customer demand, fluctuating materials availability, constant regulatory changes, and staffing challenges. In terms of process efficiencies, three-quarters of executives say their current approach to revenue optimization needs improvement, and survey responses showed plans to bolster revenue operations by incorporating advanced analytics (68%), AI (59%), and robotic process automation (46%).
“AI and analytics are ushering in a new era of revenue optimization and compliance across the life sciences and high-tech industries,” said Rehmann Rayani, Model N Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer. “Outdated, manual, and/or patchwork sales and revenue processes can undermine profitability for even the most innovative companies, and new technologies will unlock data-driven insights that manufacturers need to maximize revenue and remain compliant.”
Sixty percent of executives do not consider their organizations very data-driven today, yet nearly every executive surveyed uses external data resources from a variety of sources to inform business decisions. To augment these data sources, 94% of executives are open to anonymously contributing data to create industry benchmarks that can help inform revenue strategy.
Life Sciences Executives Identify Compliance and Communications Challenges
Beyond persistent macroeconomic headwinds, 2024 survey results highlighted several industry-specific challenges. Among pharmaceutical manufacturers, most executives are worried about the influence of regulations on future revenue. Half of the leaders surveyed are bracing for a significant revenue impact from price negotiations with Medicare under the Inflation Reduction Act, more than double the results from the 2023 survey.
In addition, 94% of pharmaceutical executives reported challenges with formulary validation – the process by which manufacturers verify that payers are meeting contractual agreements with respect to formulary placement. Manual audits (49%) and limited access to formulary data (48%) were cited as top challenges to assuring compliance.
From revenue loss to government penalties, the consequences of poor customer and membership data are many. Yet, only half of executives characterize their membership management process as highly effective.
For medical technology executives, communication between field sales and operations teams is a top concern, with just 38% reporting excellent communication. Improvements in this area can immediately streamline deal execution and boost profitability. The MedTech industry continues to adjust to new financing and subscription models for capital equipment and software, evolving from one-time to recurring revenue. Nearly 60% of executives reported difficulties with managing such models.
Channel Data Remains an Untapped Opportunity for High-Tech Manufacturers
While channel sales data can give manufacturers valuable insights into changing market conditions, only 27% of companies consistently use this data to inform pricing decisions. Greater insight into channel data helps execute more strategic sales pivots faster in response to changing market conditions. In addition, channel data helps manufacturers guard against gray market sales. These unauthorized sales put manufacturers at risk with regulators and law enforcement agencies, and most executives surveyed reported concerns ranging from brand reputation damage to financial and legal liability.
“Life sciences and high-tech manufacturers rely on complex, multi-stage revenue processes. Failing to consistently monitor, analyze, and optimize these processes is a recipe for increased risk,” said Suresh Kannan, Model N Chief Product Officer. “This year’s State of Revenue Report underscores how existing business practices must evolve and harness the power of data and advanced analytics to overcome industry challenges, optimize revenue, and meet critical business needs.”
For more industry-specific statistics and commentary about revenue optimization in life sciences and high tech, download the full 2024 State of Revenue Report.
More About the 2024 State of Revenue Report:
This report, commissioned by Model N with research conducted by Dimensional Research, is based on the results of a survey of more than 300 C-suite executives directly responsible for revenue management at large pharmaceutical, medical technology, high-tech manufacturing, or semiconductor companies. Certain questions were repeated from similar studies in 2020-2023 to enable trend analysis.
Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
With the continuous growing demand for hatchbacks, CarLelo (a Capri Loans Venture), a leading online new-car retailing platform, has released its latest report highlighting Maruti Suzuki Swift and Baleno as the premier choices in India’s burgeoning digital new car market. The data reveals that during the last quarter of 2023, the company experienced a surge with 6,227 inquiries for the Maruti Suzuki Swift and 2,421 for Baleno.
CarLelo’s report has highlighted that both Maruti models have captivated the growing demand of online new-car buyers nationwide, generating an unprecedented increase in bookings and inquiries. The company has recently recorded a significant 300% increase in bookings of new cars in CY2023. This remarkable growth highlights the popularity of Maruti models among consumers seeking to purchase new cars online. Having an online user base of over 5 lakhs, month on month, the company has seen a persistent and strong interest in Maruti vehicles throughout the year.
In line with its commitment to innovation, Maruti Suzuki continues to push boundaries with technologies being offered in its product offerings. Both Swift and Baleno models stand as prime examples of this dedication, offering customers a blend of advanced features and unparalleled convenience.
Since its inception in 2005, the Maruti Suzuki Swift has seen an overall sales figure of one million units, showcasing its dominance in the market. In 2023 alone, the model sold a remarkable 73,090 units, further solidifying its position as a top choice among consumers. From its strong brand recall, exceptional cost-effectiveness, and the convenience of an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), the Swift delivers on various fronts. Despite automatic variants typically garnering less attention in this category, the Swift stands out with its impressive mileage figure of 22 kmpl, a factor that attracts many consumers. Its well-rounded exterior design, featuring LED lights and an aggressive stance, has contributed significantly to its popularity among car enthusiasts. The 7-inch Smart Play Studio system offering Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity alongside sporty instrument dials, fabric upholstery, and a leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel are key highlights of the cabin.
For those seeking a slightly more premium alternative in the hatchback segment, there is the Maruti Suzuki Baleno. Introduced back in 2015, the product has sold 2 million units to date. According to a recent report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), premium hatchbacks experienced a notable surge of 18 to 20 percent in CY23. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno, positioned as a premium offering, epitomizes elegance for customers seeking a heightened driving experience. The Baleno’s exterior design seamlessly blends sophistication and allure, capturing attention with its sharp front-end profile and curvaceous tailgate, making it an instant eye-catcher on the road. Setting new benchmarks in its segment, the Baleno boasts several first-in-segment features, including a Heads-Up Display (HUD), a 360-degree camera, Smart Play Pro Plus, Next-Gen Suzuki Connect, and more, enhancing convenience for occupants. Being a Nexa product, the Baleno elevates the overall ownership experience to a higher echelon, particularly in terms of after-sales service and customer satisfaction. Combined with its strong brand value, reliability, and on-road performance facilitated by the 1.2-liter K Series Dual Jet petrol engine, the Baleno delivers a comprehensive and rewarding driving experience.
Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of CarLelo (a Capri Loans Venture), stated, “We have noticed an increasing trend of people booking new Maruti Suzuki cars online. Tier-1 cities are at the forefront of this shift, highlighting the inclination of urban dwellers to use the Internet for a new car purchase. Therefore, we remain committed to redefining and improving the new car buying process, ensuring a straightforward, hassle-free experience for our customers. We aim to bridge the gap for car buyers via technology. We have also discovered that India’s younger generation has transitioned to online car buying, dedicating their time for online research and exploration before finalizing their car choice. This evolving pattern isn’t merely a shift in habits; instead, it’s a direct outcome of the continuous availability of high-quality, aspirational cars.”
To align with the growing interest in these premium hatchbacks, CarLelo continues to enhance its platform to meet evolving consumer needs. The platform has experienced a five-fold surge in new car inquiries, largely fueled by Millennials and Gen Z, who show a strong preference for digital car purchases.
The company also offers an array of new car options across different segments such as Subcompact SUVs, Compact SUVs, MPVs, Sedans, and more, along with a streamlined online purchasing system.
Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
LG Electronics, India’s leading consumer durable brand, has announced a new business venture – Innovative self-laundry service for University students. The first self-laundry service is being introduced at Galgotias University in Greater Noida. The ceremony, graced by esteemed dignitaries including Mr. Baek – Executive Vice President, Living Solutions, LG Electronics, Mr Jeon, MD, LG Electronics India, Mr. Kim Division Leader, B2B,LG Electronics India, Mr. Hwang-Division Leader Home Appliances-LG Electronics India, and Mr. Dhruv Galgotia- CEO, Galgotias University, marked the official commencement of this convenience for students. The new self-laundry facility will serve 1500 students.
LG’s foray into the Commercial Washing Machine Multi-Housing business introduces a new line of services, bringing self-laundry solutions to college and university hostels. Students will have the convenience of utilizing LG Commercial Washing Machines through the user-friendly ‘Laundry Crew’ application, facilitating machine reservation, operation, and automated payments.
Commenting on the same, Mr. Hong Ju Jeon, MD, LG Electronics India said, “We, at LG, are committed to enhancing consumer’s lifestyle through innovative products & technologies. With self-laundry service at educational institutes, we are announcing a new business venture aimed at enabling convenience for young students. We will be investing USD 4M in this business & plan to open 200 self-laundry service centres by the end of 2024. We will continue to forge partnerships that drive innovation and help people enjoy a better life.”
Mr. Dhruv Galgotia, CEO, Galgotias University, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to LG Electronics for introducing this valuable service on their campus and stated, “This partnership will significantly enhance our students’ lives, allowing them to prioritize academics and extracurricular activities. We eagerly anticipate a sustainable relationship with LG, emphasizing our commitment to creating a lasting impact and continually improving the student experience on campus.”
LG looks forward to expanding its footprint in the education sector, providing students with convenient and time-saving solutions that align with the brand’s reputation for cutting-edge technology and user-centric design.
Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider of infrastructure software, today announced the latest release of Progress® OpenEdge®, the flagship application development platform used by over 100,000 customers across the globe to simplify the delivery of mission-critical business applications. By leveraging the new features and enhancements of OpenEdge 12.8, organizations can optimize their development processes, improve database performance, enhance application security, and stay current with the evolving technology landscape.
“For decades, Progress has provided the technology businesses need to not only run effectively, but to thrive as markets evolve and end-user needs change,” said John Ainsworth, Executive Vice President, General Manager, Application and Data Platform, Progress. “Whether you’re an ABL developer seeking enhanced productivity tools, a database administrator aiming to streamline management tasks or a security-conscious professional striving to protect critical assets, OpenEdge 12.8 enables you to develop, deploy and manage business applications that are more secure, scalable and agile.”
Developer Productivity
OpenEdge 12.8 enhances developer productivity by equipping ABL (Advanced Business Language) developers with tools and features to streamline their workflows, including:
- Enhanced OpenEdge observability: OpenEdge 12.8 integrates OpenTelemetry, a powerful observability framework, with instrumentation to provide operational metrics and trace information. Metrics assist in managing your OpenEdge applications, while traces provide developers with deep insights into application performance to identify code bottlenecks and optimize application performance.
- Faster turn–around on builds: With incremental build support, developers can change their codebase and quickly rebuild only the affected parts. This significantly reduces build times, enabling faster iterations and accelerated development cycles.
Integration and Management
OpenEdge 12.8 delivers advancements in application integration and environment management through improved monitoring and administration capabilities.
- Real-time messaging and streaming with Apache Kafka: Integration with Kafka enables businesses to use it to enhance their applications with event streaming and data integration for real-time data feeds.
- OpenEdge Command Center (OECC): A state-of-the-art, cloud-ready tool and APIs that simplify managing OpenEdge applications. OECC provides centralized monitoring, administration, and diagnostics, integrating popular Application Performance Management (APM) tools that are likely already in your environment.
- Database online maintenance: This release includes various database improvements that enable more administrative tasks to be performed online, eliminating the need for downtime for offline maintenance operations. It also offers a variety of performance improvements, especially in the areas of database scan/repair and backup/restore.
Application and Data Protections
OpenEdge 12.8 introduces several features to reinforce application security and help safeguard critical data.
- Data Regulation Support with Dynamic Data Masking (DDM): For a Security Administrator or Database Administrator who needs to enable OpenEdge business applications with data privacy and integrity compliance requirements like GDPR or HIPAA, the DDM capability offers an easier approach to disguise the sensitive data at run time, based on user role permissions.
- Hardware Security Module (HSM) support: OpenEdge 12.8 supports HSMs, which help provide a more secure environment for cryptographic operations, facilitating the protection of sensitive data and supporting compliance with stringent security standards.
- Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 support: OpenEdge 12.8 adopts OpenSSL 3.1, the latest version of the open-source cryptographic library which supports TLS 1.3. This helps enhance security protocols and cryptographic algorithms to promote robust encryption and data integrity for OpenEdge applications.
OpenEdge is the leading platform for developing enterprise applications needing high performance, high availability and flexible deployment options for extensibility, scalability, security, and reliability. Developers around the world are using the OpenEdge application development platform to build innovative business applications that are the backbone of healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and other industries.
Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
In a move to bridge the digital skill gap among women, BNP Paribas has partnered with Nasscom Foundation to train over 300 engineering women graduates through an employment-linked training project called Skill Development for marginalised Young Women towards Employment.
Marking its first year since launch, this hybrid program is designed for technical skilling of the next generation of women engineers in India from marginalised sections of society. The program is currently working with women engineering graduates from tier two and tier three colleges in Bengaluru, Tumakur, Mumbai and Pune.
“Women’s empowerment has been identified as key lever to a Viksit Bharat by the Government of India. By supporting women-centric skill development and enhancement programmes through philanthropic grants, corporates can lower barriers and carve out an accessible gateway for women to enter into various sectors of the economy and contribute to India’s progress,” said Sanjay Singh, CEO and Head of Territory, BNP Paribas India.
“At BNP Paribas, we pursue an active policy of Diversity, Equity and inclusion. Our partnership with nasscom is another step in this direction to drive inclusion in India. Through this partnership, we aim to deepen access to technology skills for economically weaker sections, thereby enabling improved and more inclusive livelihoods in India’s digital economy,” Sanjay Singh, added.
The hybrid programme trained students from select colleges on a range of technical skills. These include Python Developer and data analytics and soft skills including (verbal / non-verbal reasoning, numerical aptitude, logical reasoning, business etiquette, problem solving, time management, customer orientation and interview skills.
“The World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report highlights the urgent need for new-age skills, with 60% of companies recognizing a deficit among candidates. Aligned with the government’s Skill India Mission, Nasscom foundation is dedicated to advancing the skills of the youth and fostering equal opportunities for all. In our partnership with BNP Paribas, we embarked on a journey to cultivate a young, digitally skilled talent pool. We are committed to train 300 dynamic young women in tech, empowering them with future-ready competencies that align with the dynamic needs of the job market,” said Nidhi Bhasin, CEO, Nasscom Foundation.
The women students are provided opportunities to secure job offers through placement drives and job fairs conducted by Nasscom foundation. A large percentage of these students, who are in the age group of 18-25 years, have already been placed with companies like IBM, CGI, Unisoft, etc.
Feb 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
Asian Energy Services Ltd (AESL), a leading player in the energy infrastructure sector, is thrilled to announce its latest triumph in receiving a momentous LoA (alongside its JV partner) from Central Coalfields Ltd (subsidiary of Coal India Ltd). The work programme encompasses Planning, Design, Engineering, Construction, Fabrication, Erection, Supply, Installation, Testing, Trial run and Commissioning of a Coal Handling Plant, along with SILO loading at KARO OCP consisting of all Civil, Structural, Electrical and Mechanical Works and Operation & Maintenance of the plant for 5 years. This esteemed project is valued at INR 250 crore rupees inclusive of taxes.
This LoA marks a major milestone for AESL, not only expanding its services portfolio but also reinforcing its presence in the rapidly expanding energy infrastructure sector in India. The execution of works under this project will contribute significantly to the company’s financial performance in FY25 and FY26 while providing long-term revenue visibility.
Mr. Kapil Garg, MD of Asian Energy Services Ltd, expressed his excitement, stating, “We are elated to receive LoA from CCL for this project. It is a testament to our credibility and reputation within the energy industry and strengthens our commitment to delivering high- quality projects and services. We look forward to executing the project efficiently and further enhancing our service offerings. We are well positioned to partake in the ongoing upgradation and modernization of India’s energy infrastructure and are on the lookout for more project awards in the coming months. These projects will further reinforce the bedrock of AESL’s order book, which currently stands at approximately Rs 1200 CR, and provide revenue visibility for FY25 and beyond.”.
The successful bid for this contract aligns with AESL’s strategic vision to diversify its portfolio and solidify its position as a key player in the energy infrastructure landscape. The company remains dedicated to delivering excellence in every project it undertakes, thereby contributing to the nation’s energy security and sustainable growth.
