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 S Sriram, CEO, iValue Infosolutions, believes cloud computing would challenge the traditional roles assumed by distributors, sub-distributors and solutions providers in the IT value chain
In 2010, we expect the economy getting back to normal, although gradually and cautiously. Most economic indicators suggest that the worst is over. We will end the current fiscal at over 7 percent GDP growth which is commendable.
The Indian corporate sector has not only demonstrated great resilience but also sound business acumen by sustaining bottomline and topline growth in a challenging economy.
The Government too needs to be commended for the measures it took to bring the economy back on track. As a result, key sectors like BFSI and manufacturing recovered faster than expected.
If one looks at the financial performance of many companies focused on the domestic market, one would realize that, for most part of the last 18 months, it was business as usual for them. However they chose to be extra cautious with their capital expenditure, considering the magnitude of the global crises.
What’s heartening to see is the revival in the IT spending by IT & ITES sector. The largest IT-spending sector is showing definitive signs of bounce back. Over the last two quarters the size and speed of deals in this sector have increased and this augurs well for 2010.
One of the key reforms in 2010 will be the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). It will make taxation much simpler and also resolve many cash-flow constraints of businesses.
Managing digital assets
While the economic crisis has had a milder impact on India, it has brought about a compelling change in the way customers view their investments in IT assets. We have seen the importance of digital assets grow.
In tough and competitive times, the only factor that determines success from failure is how well each company identifies its real business differentiators and effectively manages to sustain and grow the business.
Most business differentiators revolve around information and intelligence—intellectual properties, domain expertise, information intelligence and database, and many companies, small and big, are realizing that IT is the best way to create and manage these differentiators.
Which means that in 2010, organization will increasingly focus on managing and protecting their digital assets, effectively. Partners who can help their customers in digital asset management will do well in the coming years.
Compliance imperative
The other key trend that will drive IT growth in 2010 is the need for compliance among companies. As India is a service-led economy which caters to global customers, compliance standards such as SoX, HIPAA, PCI, and COBIT are emerging as key requirements even for SMBs.
For leveraging this opportunity, partners will have to understand the functioning of key industry verticals and their compliance needs in order to provide custom solutions. Consultative approach, with good understanding of customer business and domain, will pave way for success in the future.
The service route
Cloud computing and managed services will change the way we do business across the IT industry. All that the customer would need is Internet connectivity to run their IT applications.
Cloud computing would challenge the traditional roles assumed by distributors, sub-distributors and solutions providers in the IT value chain. Aspects like implementation of solutions, migration, support and renewals will be managed directly by vendors, allowing customers to bypass multiple layers.
In such a scenario to stay relevant, partners will have to create their own USP and that I believe would be in the area of value-added services (VAS).
A majority of partners today have no real services offering apart from the regular annual maintenance contracts and are clearly missing out on the vast opportunity. Take the example of security solutions. Nearly 40 percent of customer spending on information security solution goes into consulting, auditing and compliance services. Except a few select partners, most don’t have the skill-set to provide these security services.
Areas of focus
All technologies—virtualization, de-duplication, virtual tape library, tiered storage, and cloud computing—that help customers cut cost, increase flexibility, reduce overheads and increase productivity will do well in 2010.
Consultancy services around implementation of IS0 31000 for risk management, application and wireless security, and disaster recovery and business continuity will be in demand.
| Takeaways for 2010 | - Organization will focus more on managing their digital assets
- Compliance solutions will be big in the coming years
- Cloud computing would challenge the traditional roles in the IT value chain
- Virtualization, de-duplication, tiered storage and cloud computing will drive demand
- IPTV will soon start invading residences, delivering triple play
- Solutions providers will have to adopt a consultative approach
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I am extremely bullish about physical security and surveillance market. Owing to increase in global terrorism, both private and public sector investing significantly in these solutions and since a large number of security and surveillance products are IP-based, IT providers have a tremendous opportunity in these segment. This would give rise to new sets of services involving management of physical security systems, and providing central command and control.
IPTV, driven by last-mile wireless connectivity, will soon start invading residences, delivering triple play in 2010. This will blur home and office boundaries, and redefine edutainment.
With all the changes around us, solutions providers will have to adopt a consultative approach to sell IT to their customers. Understanding the needs of the customers and providing them an end-to-end solution with services is the way ahead. |