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Why Businesses Now Need To Balance Profit With Purpose

Social media is a powerful, strategic tool with the ability to connect millions of people around the world, and shape their opinions. The current President of the United States would agree.

But for businesses, it is a double-edged sword. While Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are an effective way for businesses to connect with their customers and build following, if something goes wrong, the mistake is on show for the world to see.

Social media has given a voice to, and shifted power from businesses and governments, to individuals who otherwise would not be heard. Did you know that almost half (45%) of the world’s population is now on social media? (Source: Statista)

People now have access to information about corporate behavior like never before. Socially conscious consumers show no restraint in sharing incidents of corporate negligence on social media. They use social media platforms to organize themselves around issues that are important to them, and strongly express their disapproval for unsustainable business practices.

As per the Cone Communications 2013 Global CSR study of more than 10,000 citizens in 10 of the largest countries in the world by GDP, including India, 62% consumers say they engage with companies via social media, and 26% use social media to share negative information.

They use their voice and purchasing power to punish irresponsible businesses, forcing them to clean up their act, thus bringing about the change they want to see in the world.

A study by the New York Times Consumer Insight Group identified major reasons people choose to share what they do on social media sites. 84% of participants in this study said that they shared to support a cause. Clearly, selling a good product or service is no longer enough. And doing business responsibly is no longer a choice.

Before the advent of social media, social, ethical, environmental misdeeds of corporates used to go unnoticed. But like Mark Zuckerberg correctly said, “When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place”

For instance when Nike was accused of deploying child labor in the production of soccer balls, or when the garment factory of Benetton, Primark, and Walmart collapsed in Dhaka, the brands faced severe criticism and protests from consumers and activists all around the globe.

With growing number of socially conscious consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, companies can expect to see many more instances of consumer-initiated protests and boycotts in the future.

Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2010 are expected to account for 40% of all consumers by 2020, according to research from MNI Targeted Media. Doing their part to make the world a better place is important to 68% of them, and this directly impacts their buying behavior.

94% of Gen Z shoppers and 87% of millennials believe that companies should address urgent social and environmental issues. (Source: Cone Communications 2013 Global CSR study)

In the long run customers will choose companies that they trust, that share their values and that act responsibly. And businesses that don’t will end up losing their customer base.

In a survey by Greenmatch, a renewable energy consulting agency, 72% of Gen Z respondents said they are willing to shell out more money for goods and services produced in a sustainable way. And nearly half (49%) have boycotted a brand because it behaved in a way that was against their values.

In a mobile-savvy country like India, reputation loss due to negative social media publicity can have serious implications for the business. As per media reports, when high levels of lead and MSG were found in Nestlé’s star product Maggi noodles in 2015, the company lost much more than its market share due to their poorly managed social media responses.

Brands and businesses must now necessarily adapt to the new world order, and be as committed to and innovative about doing good as they are about maximizing profits.

So what would be our one tip to businesses that want to avoid a social media nightmare? Act responsibly, because there is no dodging the animal called social media.

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Is AWS Right For Your Growing Business?

Experts of Katalyst: An Interview with Praveen Minumula

Are you looking for solutions to scale your business, but not sure where to turn? Meet Katalyst Technologies’ very own Chief Technology Officer, Praveen Minumula. When he’s not managing our company’s technology strategies, he’s helping companies just like yours solve some of their trickiest business challenges. Get to know Praveen as he shares his expertise on cloud computing services, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).

If you are a company experiencing the nuances of growth and scalability, you may be asking yourself, “How do I scale my business without disrupting my current customer’s experience or incurring high costs?” From costs and implementation to maintenance and support – business leaders can often face a state of confusion when determining the next move to propel their business forward.

And that’s where our CTO, Praveen Minumula, and his team come in.

Praveen is well-equipped to help you maneuver through the noise with the best-in-class cloud computing platforms, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), a pioneer cloud computing platform that is solving scalability issues for businesses of all sizes. Being the tech whiz that he is, Praveen has recently partnered with AWS on behalf of Katalyst Technologies to ensure we continuously provide top-level technology solutions for our customers.

In celebration of the newly-formed partnership, we’ve decided to sit down with Praveen to discuss exactly what AWS is, what problems it solves for businesses, and what types of businesses would benefit from it. Read on to learn more from our in-house technology expert, Praveen:

Katalyst Technologies’ CTO, Praveen Minumula

Q. Why don’t you give our audience some background information about yourself?

A. I am the Chief Technology Officer at Katalyst Technologies. I have been in the IT industry for 15 years, and I started my career with Katalyst after graduating with a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University in 2003. I am responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of the company. I develop IT vision, strategy, technical roadmap, and lead teams in effective execution. I am responsible for the company’s IT initiatives, infrastructure, operations, and software delivery.

I have expertise in architecting solutions for the cloud by designing and deploying secure, scalable, highly-available, and reliable applications, while optimizing for cost. I helped migrate complex internal and customer applications to cloud solutions such as AWS.

Q. Can you describe the concept behind AWS as if I knew nothing about it or the market?

A. If I were to explain cloud computing in a very simplified language, it is like subscribing to a service like electricity that is delivered to your home; you pay for what you use instead of generating your own electricity.

Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining your datacenters at a significant cost, companies can acquire computers, storage, and databases as they need them, and only pay for what they use. The prospect of being able to provide servers on demand, rather than waiting several weeks, helps companies innovate and release their products to market quicker.

Another popular example is the Pizza as a Service analogy:

In this example, the “Made at Home” column shows you all of the items you need to have to make a pizza at home. This is comparable to needing your own data center by finding a site that is accessible, has redundancy in power and telecom infrastructure, and allows you to build your network, servers, storage, and security. If you compare that to the dined-out column on the right, you can see that you don’t need to worry about making the pizza at all. You show up, order what you want, and pay for what you have consumed.

Q. What problem has AWS solved for your clients so far?

A. We have customers ranging from startups to enterprises. Cloud is one of the key enablers for business to stay competitive and allow startups to disrupt as they are redefining entire industries. For example, one of our startup customers had a couple of proof of concepts they wanted to build but were not sure which would work. Instead of investing thousands of dollars in equipment, they were able to test each proof of concept within a smaller time period for just a few hundred dollars. We were able to help them get to their answers much more quickly and at a much lower cost.

Many of our customers need help to set up their infrastructure and deploy the custom applications that we develop specifically for their business. By partnering with AWS, our customers can focus on their customers and the execution of their business strategy instead of setting up and monitoring infrastructure to support their applications. We do the heavy lifting for them with minimal disruption.

We also provide services to large enterprise customers who use AWS for their infrastructure. We help them to migrate, design, configure, manage, and monitor their infrastructure.

Q. What types of companies would you suggest AWS to and why?

A. AWS powers Startups, Enterprises, and the Public Sector. AWS has helped startups like Airbnb, Lyft, and Yelp scale without having the constraints of how quickly they can provision datacenters.

Enterprises like Netflix, Kellogg’s, Expedia, GE, Dole, McDonald’s, and Shell moved their infrastructure to the cloud so that they can focus on their core business.
Public Sectors such as PBS and the US Department of State, leverage AWS cloud for their infrastructure. https://aws.amazon.com/

Q. Why did you decide to partner with AWS?

A. Katalyst is an early adopter of cloud technologies. We migrated some of the business-critical applications from on-premise network to AWS beginning in 2012. Because AWS has been a leader in the public cloud for several years, we decided it would be a great partnership that ultimately benefits our customers in the end. We have several AWS certified engineers who architect solutions for clients, which optimizes availability and security while optimizing cost.

Being an AWS partner grants us access to an innovation sandbox and AWS resources for qualified proofs-of-concept to help the company further innovate. The partnership also provides access to training and access to solutions architects to improve our team’s skills further.

Being an AWS partner allows our team to constantly be focused on customer success and help them take full advantage of the business benefits AWS has to offer. With deep expertise, we are positioned to help customers at any stage of the cloud adaption journey and to help achieve business objectives.

Q. What is the main takeaway you would like our audience to gain from this interview?

A. There are two main points I would like our audience to take away from this. First is that cloud computing has leveled the playing field for any aspiring young company. It used to be that IT infrastructure was traditionally accessible by mostly large enterprises with deep pockets. That is no longer the case as cloud computing has opened the door for small and young companies to run like large enterprises.

Second is that cloud computing platforms can provide an opportunity for enterprises to innovate like startups. Innovation is a must for business when trying to compete in today’s world.

As you can see, with cloud computing platforms like AWS, Praveen and his team remove the burden of infrastructure operations and allows businesses to focus on what is most important: their business. Gone are the days of drowning in the complicated and expensive physical components of business as usual. With cloud computing at the forefront, Praveen has helped individuals, companies, and government entities compute and store resources in a secure, reliable and cost-effective manner.
Not only is Praveen our go-to person for any and all tech-related activities, he is also known around the office for his humility and humor. In true Praveen fashion, he leaves us with the witty quote below:
“If you have applications that are old enough to order a drink, it is time to modernize them and migrate to the cloud!”

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Ayurvedic Anti-Inflammatory Oil to Cure Muscle Pain Effectively

Many people are suffering from muscle aches. Causes of muscle pain include excessive use of the muscles during exercises, muscle tension in your body, injury during workouts, infections, fibromyalgia, polymyositis, dermatomyositisis, use of certain medicines and lupus.

You need to make use of ayurvedic oil such as Rumacure oil to cure muscle pain and stay healthy. It helps to get rid of muscle pain and lead a healthy life. It is developed using pure plant ingredients to ease muscle pain and joint pain.

You need to apply few drops of Rumacure oil, which is the best ayurvedic anti-inflammatory oil, over the affected area and massage gently until the herbal oil is completely absorbed into inner nerves and tissues. You need to use this ayurvedic oil to cure muscle pain regularly for three to four months.

Rumacure oil is free from additives and harmful chemicals. You can use this herbal oil without any fear of side effects to get rid of muscle pain. Herbs in this herbal supplement have anti-inflammatory properties that help to cure muscle pain and joint pain effectively. It also reduces muscle and joint swelling.

Regular massage of the muscles using this ayurvedic anti-inflammatory oil helps to reduce joint stiffness. Potent herbs in this herbal oil offer effective treatment for gout, arthritis, joint pain, spondylitis, muscle sprains, fibromyalgia, sciatica and rheumatoid arthritis condition.

You need to massage the affected area using Rumacure oil, which is the best ayurvedic oil to cure muscle pain, daily two times for a few weeks. You should keep on massaging the affected area with your hands until the herbal oil is completely absorbed.

What are the key ingredients in Rumacure oil?

Key ingredients in Rumacure oil, which is the best ayurvedic anti-inflammatory oil, are Castor Oil, Gandhapurna Oil, Kapur Oil, Tarpan Oil, Dalchini Oil and Buleylu Oil.

Kapur oil offers effective treatment for joint pain and muscle pain. It reduces the inflammation and eases muscle pain. It improves mobility and limb flexibility. It also improves strength and health of your bones.

Tarpan oil offers effective cure for joint pain as well as inflammation. It also improves flexibility of your bones.

Dalchini oil is another powerful herbal oil to relieve you from joint pain.

Castor oil has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties which help to reduce pain naturally.

All these herbal oils are blended using an advanced herbal formula to manufacture Rumacure oil, which is the tested ayurvedic oil to cure muscle pain. It relieves you from neck pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, backache etc. Regular massage with this herbal oil strengthens neuromuscular and skeletal systems.

Where to Buy Rumacure oil?

You can buy this herbal oil from reputed online stores in the denomination of 5, 3, 2 and 10 bottles. You can save up to US$30 on online purchase apart from enjoying free shipping to your doorstep.

You need to avoid weight lifting until the muscle pain is cured completely. You need to gently stretch the muscles. You can practice meditation and yoga to get relief from tension. You are also advised to stay hydrated regularly.

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