DTH
Tata Sky selects IBM hybrid storage to mitigate data loss risk & swift data access
MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has selected a new IBM hybrid storage system to help it better serve its 30 million customers.
Additionally, IBM has also opened its first public cloud data centre in India, which is located in Chennai. Part of IBM’s $1.2 billion investment to expand its global cloud footprint into every major financial market, the Chennai data center underscores IBM’s commitment to India, a key growth market for the company.
Tata Sky’s transition to IBM Cloud infrastructure has helped its business become more agile and reduce latency seen in day-to-day processes.
“As the fastest growing, direct-to-home, digital television satellite service provider in India, Tata Sky simply cannot operate without mission-critical storage that provides the utmost business continuity and operational efficiency in both our primary and disaster recovery sites,” said Tata Sky CIO N. Ravishanker.
The technology deployed at Tata Sky relies on mitigating risk of data loss and at the same time, accessing data swiftly. “With IBM DS8000 hybrid flash storage, our response time has significantly improved and queries now return in less than one second, bringing higher efficiencies,” he added.
The company is using IBM DS8000 systems as its primary storage for all critical workloads, including CRM, billing and disaster recovery.
Constant uptime and the risk of data loss is always at the forefront of data-driven enterprises, like Tata Sky, as well as banking, financial and healthcare operations. By 2020, 15 per cent of digital businesses will fail due to inadequate protection against downtime.
Security is also essential for both customer trust and business operations. The cost of a single data breach can spiral to $3.8 million, up 23 per cent since 2013. The DS8000 family meets these challenges by significantly improving the management of growing storage demands required by the realities of today’s digital businesses.
To accelerate business critical computing, IBM announced a new IBM DS8880 family of enterprise hybrid storage, a powerful, next generation system designed with real-time data insights for clients requiring increased performance, data protection and uncompromised, nonstop availability.
With the DS8880 mission-critical applications are accelerated — up to two times faster than previous generations, making it an ideal storage option for banking and financial industries, for use with electronic medical records, as well as for ERP, CRM and retail systems that need reliable, agile and constant access to data.
The latest architecture also mitigates risk since all components are redundant and can be upgraded online. This minimizes downtime to approximately 30 seconds per year — even less if a multi-site disaster recovery solution is also installed.
With a large-scale disaster, business continuance is just as important as data protection and the DS8880 allows remote mirroring that can be integrated with a high availability server capability to provide the highest levels of availability.
For those customers like Tata Sky that are looking for integration with cloud-based and mission critical environments, the DS8880 family offers powerful integration with IBM z Systems and other IBM compute platforms to improve business processes and services by enabling systems for the dynamic demands of analytics, big data and cloud environments. It maximises utilisation of resources, including staff productivity, space and cost with streamlined management and operations and 30 percent reduction in footprint5 on a new 19-inch rack.
“In today’s fast, analytics data-driven, cloud-based world, our clients need storage options that they can rely on and that directly impact their ability to deliver high quality service to their customers and outperform competitors. As part of IBM’s bold commitment to storage, today’s launch of the DS8880 family offers an ideal solution for clients like Tata Sky that require high performing, mission critical acceleration to manage the changing conditions in the modern enterprise,” said IBM Storage general manager Jamie Thomas.
The new DS8880 family of storage incorporates a high performance flash enclosure module providing optimised performance for mission critical applications. Additionally, the system can scale three petabytes, offering advanced features for compliance and security. The DS8880 graphical user interface (GUI) also includes intuitive navigation and streamlined configuration processes, providing customizable views, interactive menus and a configuration wizard to help administrators configure an entire solution in less than 30 minutes.
The new family of storage is available worldwide beginning 14 October, 2015 with a starting price of $50,000 and with new licensing packages for simplified ordering and installation.
DTH
Dish TV launches ‘Kuch chhota sa’ campaign for TV flexibilit
New campaign highlights 190+ channels, Always-On service, Rs 99 Freedom Pack.
MUMBAI- Sometimes, the smallest remote click can fix the biggest daily friction and Dish TV is betting on exactly that insight. The company has rolled out a new campaign built around the thought ‘Kuch chhota sa karne par, life hogi behtar’, turning everyday viewing annoyances into a case for simpler, more reliable television access.
The campaign taps into a familiar household reality: millions of viewers continue to rely on free-to-air channels but increasingly want the flexibility of premium content, often ending up with a patchy and inconsistent viewing experience. Dish TV positions itself as the middle path—a structured yet flexible alternative that promises continuity without complexity. At its core is the pitch of an “Always-On” service, designed to keep content accessible even when recharge timelines slip, effectively reducing one of the most common friction points in DTH consumption.
To strengthen this proposition, the platform is offering access to over 190 channels, alongside a flexible pricing hook through its Freedom Pack, starting at Rs 99. The pack is positioned as a seasonal companion particularly relevant during high-engagement periods such as cricket tournaments, school holidays and festive windows, when content consumption spikes but users may not want long-term commitments.
Conceptualised by Enormous, the campaign unfolds through two master films and three short edits rooted in slice-of-life storytelling. From a husband quietly navigating around his sleeping wife to siblings striking a compromise over a coveted window seat, the narratives lean into humour and relatability rather than heavy messaging. The underlying idea remains consistent: small adjustments can meaningfully improve everyday experiences.
The rollout spans a full 360-degree media mix, including television, digital platforms, on-ground activations, point-of-sale visibility, Google Display Network placements and influencer-led content, signalling a push for both scale and contextual engagement.
As viewing habits continue to evolve in a hybrid ecosystem of free and paid content, Dish TV’s latest play reflects a broader industry shift where reliability and flexibility are increasingly positioned as differentiators, not just add-ons. In a market crowded with choice, the brand’s wager is simple: sometimes, it’s the smallest tweak that keeps audiences tuned in.
