The pandemic has been a driving factor in fast-tracking digital adoption and there is a growing opportunity in remote working technologies on Cloud like Virtual Desktops, File Servers, Backups and Security. According to research firm Gartner, India’s Public Cloud End-User Spending will reach $482 billion in 2022. Jesintha Louis, Director, Cloud Services, G7 CR Technologies, talks about the current cloud business in India and its growth prospects.
1) How has the growth trajectory been for the cloud business in India in the last one year? What have been the key takeaways?
Cloud business is definitely one of the fastest growing industries. We have noted exponential growth in the last 5 years in fact. However, Cloud discussions have now become a lot more natural in the last 2 years.
We are confident about Gartner’s forecast that India’s Public Cloud End-User Spending will reach $482 billion in 2022. G7 CR Technologies will contribute to driving 1% of that Cloud business across a customer base of 800+.
The key takeaway for 2021 has been that Cloud has become way more than just Infrastructure. The market is shifting gears and our recent conversations are no longer migration to Cloud but around Modernizing on Cloud. Businesses are leveraging Cloud technologies to meet scaling requirements, achieve operation efficacy and optimize IT spend. The second area of focus is SaaS, most businesses are replacing legacy functionality with ready to deploy SaaS solutions. We have clocked $7 million in sale of SaaS products in the last 3 months.
2) What factors are leading to the growth of cloud in India
The benefits of Cloud are well known (Scalability, Agility, Global Presence, Pay only for what you use). We believe, the major driver has been COVID impact and WFH as all businesses had to reimagine the work environment. Anywhere, any device, any time was the need of the hour and managing Private DC’s only got challenging, purchasing new capacity with lock down became daunting. The desktop investments were no longer useful which propelled the adoption of Cloud. The second factor is India’s eco system of SaaS providers that are growing at rapid pace, tech entrepreneurs trying to solve specific business challenges by going deeper.
3) The pandemic has induced digital transformation and SMEs have been adopting cloud technology to a great extent. What is driving this growth and what kind of opportunity you see in the market
We have been working with SMEs for over 6 years now and they have always been open to digital transformation. However, given the lack of skillset inhouse, the decision making has been challenging for SMEs. However, the pandemic has been a driving factor in fast tracking digital adoption and we were surprised by the phase of adoption. We see growing opportunity in remote working technologies on Cloud like Virtual desktops, File servers, Backups and Security.
4) What is your strategy to compete with other players in your segment
Since inception G7 CR Technology has only focused on driving Customer obsession with Tech Intensity. We invest heavily on enablement, the budgets for L&D are even more than our marketing budgets. We believe this is the key differentiator, staying ahead of technology, automating for operational efficacy has allowed us a competitive edge.
5) Hybrid work environments are driving expenditures on cloud security and integrated risk management. How do you see end users spending on security and risk management
Investment in Security & risk management is on the top of the charts. We have over 50+ nominations in just one month for Security assessment & audits with Hybrid work environments and building risk management strategies. Cloud has become an enabler for focus on security as the earlier security solutions have been expensive and complex to deploy. But, with Cloud there are simple and cost effective services charged per user for Identity & access management, pay per storage for SEIM solution and automated playbooks for threat detection and mitigation, per machine cost for continuous assessment of end points and more. We are expecting exponential investment in security as a whole.
