Innovation is Key to Penetrating Different Market Segments: Lenovo

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The world’s top PC maker credits its consistent growth to a customer-centric approach

During a recent visit to Lenovo Philippines’ headquarters in Taguig, Lenovo’s Executive Director and Regional General Manager for Central Asia Pacific (CAP), Ivan Cheung shared
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why innovation matters at Lenovo. According to Cheung, the company allocates US$1.5B each year to explore and create new products for its customers.

Cheung said, “Innovation is at the core of Lenovo’s business. It allows us to better serve our clients and provide them what they need. With a history of ‘firsts’ and pioneering leadership that is rooted in genuinely listening to customers and through analysing data, we will continue to provide cutting-edge technologies to cater different users’ needs.”

Customer centricity also plays a huge part at Lenovo. “We take engagement with our customers seriously. By addressing their needs at every touchpoint – from product inquiry, the actual purchase of products, to the after-sales experience – we are confident that the experiences we create are highly relevant, no matter for consumers or business users.”

In addition, Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager Michael Ngan shared, “To stay on top of a competitive market, we do our best to keep our core business strong and leverage our strengths. Part of the strategy is to create products for different market segments continuously.”

In recent months, for instance, the multinational tech company has locally introduced a wide range of products catered to different kinds of enthusiasts and professionals, including Legion, the company’s PC brand dedicated to the gaming community. It also released Kaby-Lake powered ThinkPad devices designed for the working professionals.

As for smartphones and convertibles, Lenovo respectively brought in the Phab 2 Pro – a Tango-enabled smartphone with an augmented reality (AR) feature – and the Yoga Book, which is geared for both productivity and creativity, through its touch glass surface allowing users to type, write, or draw digitally.

Cheung also demonstrated confidence in bringing more growth and improving the company’s quality of service in the country. He believes in the power of communication to make things happen for a team; and thus, makes it a point to engage regularly with team members of the recently-formed CAP unit – made up of Lenovo offices based in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the rest of Asia.

Cheung leads CAP’s business operations, strategy, sales and marketing for Lenovo’s line of PCs, mobile devices, and data center infrastructure.

Rustan’s Supermarket Says, “Thank you, Dad!” with a Weekend Sale

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach—and the same goes for dads! This Father’s Day, a treat for the taste buds could be the perfect way to say thanks to the first and special man in your life.

Luckily, Rustan’s Supermarket has got everything you need to whip up a perfect present just for dad. Starting today until June 18, the supermarket is holding the Dad’s Day Weekend Sale where you can score every father’s favorites at a special discount.

An occasion such as Father’s Day calls for gathering the whole family. Why not hold a big barbecue? Your meat-loving dad will appreciate choosing from Australian steak cuts and assorted sausages, which come at 20% off, and wagyu burgers and lamb chops, which are on a buy 1 take 1 promo.

Have the right accompaniments to your heavy meats at the ready. UK brand Waitrose has a great selection of sauces to slather on while or after grilling. Then, stock the table with healthy Deep River Kettle Chips for a light bite. Get all these at 10% off.

To complete the celebration, score beers, wine, and spirits offered in bundle deals or at a 30% discount.

Continue to show dad your appreciation in the little things—sometimes that’s what people appreciate the most. Make every day more special for dad and show him that you care with a simple gift box of his daily essentials. Choose from coffee and men’s care products that will brighten up his everyday—all at 10% off.

Come to a Rustan’s Supermarket near you and find that special something to give your dad the big thanks he deserves.

For more info, visit www.rustansfresh.com, follow and like rustansfresh on Facebook, and @rustansfresh on Instagram and Twitter.

Rustan’s Supermarkets are located at Makati Area: Glorietta, Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Magallanes, Alphaland Makati Place, Paseo Center, Century City Mall.  North Area: Shangri-La Plaza, Gateway Mall, Katipunan, Tomas Morato, P. Guevarra, Corinthian Hills, Village Center Antipolo, The Grove by Rockwell, Ayala Malls The 30th. South Area: Ayala Alabang Village, Evia Lifestyle Center, Uptown Mall BGC. Cebu: Oakridge Business Park, Ayala Center, Arcenas Estate CDO: Ayala Centrio Mall. Also, visit Marketplace by Rustan’s at San Antonio Plaza, Rockwell Power Plant Mall, Central Square Bonifacio High Street, and Connecticut San Juan.

NPC Conducts Privacy Compliance Check on BPI

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) is conducting a privacy compliance check on the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) after the recent incident that caused the bank’s electronic channels to be temporarily suspended, inconveniencing many of its clients.

The compliance check will evaluate the existing governance, organizational, physical and technical measures in place and seek to address any gaps especially in the bank’s breach management protocol, with the view of preventing or mitigating similar incidents in the future.

Under Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Data Privacy Act), the NPC is mandated to ensure compliance of institutions with its provisions, which includes data breach notification, management and mitigation.

The NPC has been in contact with the bank since 7 June 2017, the first day news about the incident spread on social media. The high profile nature of the incident, and the potential harm to thousands of data subjects prompted the Commission to immediately coordinate with the bank and its data protection officer to work towards containing the breach and lessening the impact of the incident.

According to Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro; “We appreciate BPI’s efforts to establish communication with the Commission throughout this episode to assuage our concern for the privacy of their depositor’s personal data. We highly regard the bank’s assurances. As advocate and vanguard of people’s privacy rights, however, the NPC’s public mandate compels us to look even further and deeper into this matter,” Liboro said. “We believe the BPI management fully understands this, because of our shared goal of ensuring the protection of the privacy rights and interests of their clients” he added.

The BPI incident was reported to have been caused by human error resulting in previously posted transactions to be reposted. The discovery of the error prompted to the Bank to suspend access to thousands of accounts. The BPI incident involved a breach in security affecting the availability and integrity of information that relates to individuals, considered a personal data breach under NPC’s memorandum circular on personal data breach management (NPC MC 16-03).

Commissioner Liboro explains further, "First, the BPI incident impacted information which is considered personal under the Data Privacy Act. This includes the processing of data, which is capable of uniquely identifying data subjects, such as the account information of BPI and BPI Family Bank customers contained in BPI’s systems. Second, the nature of the incident impacted both the availability and integrity of personal information considering that the incident resulted in the posting of erroneous account information and the prevention of its access to account holders. Under the law, impacts to availability and integrity of personal information may constitute a breach where loss and/or alteration to personal information occurs, whether accidentally or unlawfully."

Commissioner Liboro underscored the importance of data protection in the Internet age. “With many services being on-line, a simple data processing error can affect thousands of data subjects as well as have national impact, we can’t help to reiterate the importance of good house keeping for data processing systems and having breach management protocols in place compliance with data protection and privacy regulations reduces breach incidents and puts data subjects out of harm's way.” Commissioner Liboro said.

The National Privacy Commission recently held a general assembly of Data Privacy Officers (DPO) in the banking industry. The event, called DPO2, was conducted in cooperation with banking regulator the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP). After government, the NPC believes that the banking and finance sector's Personal Information Controllers (PICs) are involved in high-risk processing, because of the nature of the data they process and the potential impact of breaches to economic security.