CRN India January 15, 2011 by UBM India

Add.qxp

1/11/2011

2:14 PM

Page 1

Don’t forget the slowdown

t’s amazing how the cloud has become a part of the general IT vocabulary in a short period. No matter which IT company you speak to—including hardware companies—the discussion eventually leads to the cloud. In the 20 articles contributed by industry-leading channel chiefs, the word ‘cloud’ has been mentioned 154 times. This only goes to show what a profound impact cloud computing is having on the industry as a whole and the channel chiefs in particular as they plan their go-tomarket for 2011. And it is clear what this means for partners. In this year’s Outlook edition, we have tried bringing views from across the IT industry—on the consumer side as well as the commercial side of the spectrum. The slowdown witnessed over the past three years has had a profound impact on the world we live in. The global economic order

Volume 4, Issue 18

Managing Director : Sanjeev Khaira Printer & Publisher : Sajid Yusuf Desai Director : Kailash Shirodkar Executive Editor : Dhaval Valia Contributing Editor : Ramdas S Assistant Editor : Sonal Desai Principal Correspondent : Abhijeet Mukherjee (Mumbai) Senior Copy Editor : Trupti Ghag Ramball Senior Analyst (Online) : Pratiksha Hardas Design Assistant Art Director : Deepjyoti Bhowmik Designers : Yogesh Naik, Shailesh Vaidya, Jinal Cheda Marketing Senior Executive : Arshi Khan, Sejal Acharya Advertising Co-ordinator : Jagruti Kudalkar Operations Head—Finance : Yogesh Mudras Head—Operations & Administration : Satyendra Mehra Sales bangalore Regional Director : Anees Ahmed anees.ahmed@ubm.com (M) +91 98450 32170 Deputy Manager—Sales : Satish Kutty satish.krishnankutty@ubm.com (M) +91 98452 07810 Delhi Regional Director : Pankaj Jain pankaj.jain@ubm.com (M) +91 98101 72077

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

has moved from being West-centric to the East. China and India have become the pivot around which the global economy will stabilize and grow. In the long-term this means investments will flow and Indian businesses will grow. In the short term however, especially in 2011, there is still a reason for caution on the macroeconomic front. Rising commodity prices are creating significant inflationary pressure on the global economy, more so in India due to the fast pace of GDP growth. Most leading economies are still running on an economic stimulus and higher fiscal deficits. From the perspective of the IT industry and channel, what this means is that organizations are far away from opening their purse strings, and that they will continue to be prudent and only invest in cost-efficient technologies. Meaning:

Deputy Manager—Sales : Sanjay Khandelwal sanjay.khandelwal@ubm.com (M) +91 98117 64515 Mumbai Head Business Development : Salil Warior salil.warior@ubm.com (M) +91 99875 80188 Deputy Manager – Sales : Sagar Nanal sagar.nanal@ubm.com (M) +91 98202 81302 production Deputy Manager : Prakash (Sanjay) Adsul Logistics Assistant Manager

: Bajrang Shinde

Subscriptions & Database Manager : Manoj Ambardekar manoj.ambardekar@ubm.com Senior Executive : Deepanjali Chaurasia deepa.chaurasia@ubm.com

Head Office UBM India Pvt Ltd, 1st floor, 119, Sagar Tech Plaza - A, Andheri-Kurla Road, Saki Naka Junction, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400072, India Tel: 022 6769 2400; Fax: 022 6769 2426 Printed and Published by Sajid Yusuf Desai on behalf of UBM India Pvt Ltd, 6th floor, 615-617 Sagar Tech Plaza - A, Andheri-Kurla Road, Saki Naka Junction, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400072, India. Executive Editor: Dhaval Valia Printed at Indigo Press (India) Pvt Ltd, Plot No 1c/716, Off Dadaji Konddeo Cross Road, Byculla (E), Mumbai 400027

Associate Office - Pune Jagdish Khaladkar, Sahayog Apartment 508 Narayan Peth, Patrya Maruti Chowk, Pune 411 030 Tel: 91 (020) 2445 1574 (M) 98230 38315 email: jagdishk@vsnl.com

“For those expecting 2011 to be a runaway year, it may not pan out that way. Be cautious—and don’t forget the lessons from the slowdown” Dhaval Valia

Executive Editor CRN

don’t expect the pre-2008 splurges. On the retail side, the inflationary pressures will continue to have a psychological impact on consumer spending patterns. For those expecting 2011 to be a runaway year, it may not pan out that way. Be cautious—and don’t forget the lessons from the slowdown. n E-mail me at dhaval.valia@ubm.com

USA Huson International Media David Steifman david@husonusa.com Tel: 212 268 3344 ext. 102 Fax: 212 268 3355 April Ramirez april@husonusa.com Tel: 408 879 6666 (M): 408 429 4516 Fax: 408 879 6669 Japan Pacific Business (PBI) Hiroshi Okawa okawa-pbi@gol.com Tel: +81 3366 16138 Fax: +81 3366 16139

Taiwan Transaction Media Ryan Huang r yan@transactionmedia.com Tel: +886 (2) 2708 7754 Fax: +886 (2) 2708 9914 (M): +886 (0) 9330 12759 Singapore Transaction Media Nitin Joshi nitin@transactionmedia.com Tel: +65 6866 3254 Fax: +65 6866 3636 South Korea Young Media Young Baek ymedia@chol.com Tel: +82 2227 34819 Fax: +82 2227 34866

EMEA Huson International Media, Gerry Rhoades Brown, gerryrb@husonmedia.com Tel: +44 19325 64999 Fax: + 44 19325 64998 Important Every effort has been taken to avoid errors or omissions in this magazine. In spite of this, errors may creep in. Any mistake, error or discrepancy noted may be brought to our notice immediately. It is notified that neither the publisher, the editor or the seller will be responsible in respect of anything and the consequence of anything done or omitted to be done by any person in reliance upon the content herein. This disclaimer applies to all, whether subscriber to the magazine or not. For binding mistakes, misprints, missing pages, etc, the publisher’s liability is limited to replacement within one month of purchase. © All rights are reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only. While care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy, it is not possible to verify its contents. UBM India Pvt Ltd. cannot be held responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or publications. We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

Content Contents

8 Managing the digital explosion Manoj Chugh, President, EMC India & Saarc

25 Deliver value with open source Jaideep Kumar, Head, Channels & Distribution, Red Hat India

Not without the network Naresh Wadhwa, President & Country Manager, Cisco India & Saarc

Focus on value addition

Convergence will drive the consumerization of IT

Become a trusted advisor

Mahesh Bhalla, GM, Consumer & SMB, Dell India

Vineet Sood, Head, Channel & Alliances, Symantec India

Prepare for transformation Surajit Sen, Director, Channels & Marketing Alliances, NetApp

The outlook seems positive Jayesh Kotak, VP, Product Marketing, D-Link India

Expect major changes in the PC market

Building high bandwidth infrastructure

Vishal Tripathi, Principal Analyst, Gartner India

Gaurav Ahluwalia, Managing Director, R&M India

Escalating PC penetration will drive growth

Moving from technology to business solutions

Alex Li, Vice President, Home & SMB, Lenovo India

Amit Sinha Roy, VP, Marketing & Strategy, Global Enterprise Solutions, Tata Communications

The cloud is the right route

Prepare for exponential growth

Pallab Talukdar, ceo, Fujitsu india

Khwaja Saifuddin, Sr. Director (Sales) - Middle East, Africa & South Asia, Western Digital

The three game-changers

The cloud will gain critical mass

Ganesan Arumugam, Director, Partner Sales, VMware India

M Laxmi Narayan Rao, Marketing Director, Global Channel Programs, Jamcracker

Mobility will be key Rajesh Gupta, Director Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia

Suresh Pansari, Managing Director, Rashi Peripherals

Accept new business realities Sandeep Menon, Country Head, Novell India

Desktop virtualization to go mainstream

Laying the foundation for the next decade

Stephen Ducker, CEO, Ncomputing

Sunil Cherian, VP, Product Marketing, Array Networks

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

Managing the digital explosion

ast year was good for technology vendors with IT spending rising in India led by investments in government projects. On the technology side, the big development was the private cloud moving beyond discussion to implementation with some large enterprises making actual deployments. The global economic recovery slowed toward the latter part of 2010, and growth in 2011 is expected to be weaker according to the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 report. The US is expected to post a moderate 2.2 percent growth while Europe is expected to be far worse at 1.3 percent. In contrast, India’s GDP growth is expected to be 8.5-9 percent. This strong growth, together with the introduction of 3G/BWA services, and governmentenabled citizen-centric services such as Aadhar and the census, will trigger a digital information explosion. The IDC Digital Universe Study, sponsored by EMC, says that India’s share of digital information is expected to grow 60-fold by 2020 from 40,000 petabytes to 2.3 million petabytes—twice as fast as the worldwide rate.

Challenges for CIOs This explosion of digital information will create significant challenges for India’s CIOs and IT managers, for two reasons. First, enterprises will be responsible for the storage, protection and management of 80 percent of the digital universe’s data, and this liability will only increase with the mobility dimension being added to enterprise applications and the increased adoption of technologies such as social networking and Web 2.0. Second, while digital information will grow 60-fold, enterprise investments in IT and staffing, despite rising, will still be only in the single digits. From a technology perspective, 8

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

the cumulative effect of the digital explosion will drive CIOs to transform traditional IT infrastructures into private cloud data centers that offer internal customers IT as a service. The migration will gather momentum in 2011, and we will see enterprises put in place a long-term strategy and roadmap for their information infrastructure investments. While the strong adoption of virtualization technologies will continue unabated, we will increasingly see large enterprises build private cloud infrastructures. They will initially migrate certain low-risk applications such as e-mail, those used for collaboration, and department-specific (such as HR) applications.

Efficiency technologies Enterprises will also invest in advanced efficiency technologies like data de-duplication, unified storage, fully automated storage tiering (FAST) and solid-state drives to optimize investments, intelligently manage information and leverage the benefits of the cloud. For example, traditional backup solutions store data repeatedly and incrementally, expanding total managed storage by 5-10 times. Data de-duplication helps address this and delivers an improved ROI within a year by reducing storage infrastructure and management for both backup and archive. At the same time, it addresses environmental issues by reducing the data center footprint for backup and thus saves on power. On the other hand, FAST automates the movement of data within a storage system; dramatically improves performance; replaces hours or even days of repetitive, manual storage administrative tasks; and delivers significant cost savings. Unified storage has seen greater adoption in 2010, and we believe 2011 will be a landmark year for this technology led by strong mid-tier

“This year enterprises will invest in efficiency technologies like data de-duplication, unified storage, fully automated storage tiering and solid-state drives” Manoj Chugh

President, EMC India & Saarc

adoption. On the infrastructure side for the cloud, we expect enterprises to go in for best-of-breed vendors who offer a comprehensive offering as against a piece-meal approach. While this scenario presents tremendous market opportunities for partners, there’s also increased competition with the entire cloud movement. Traditional partners and integrators will also be competing with existing application and solution providers such as salesforce. com. Partners who can demonstrate understanding of and experience in the cloud environment will have the edge. To stay competitive, partners will also need to expand their portfolio to new areas of information infrastructure technologies. We see the adoption of information infrastructure technologies by financial services and the mid-market, and the mainstreaming of de-duplication technologies, unified storage, and workflow automation and security as among the trends that will shape the industry in the coming year. EMC continues to invest in scaling its operations as part of its previously announced $2 billion investment commitment through 2014 to address the local market opportunity. On the cloud front, through the VCE coalition initiative between EMC, Cisco and VMware, we will accelerate the adoption of private cloud implementations. n

Add.qxp

1/12/2011

5:04 PM

Page 1

Not without the network

n increasing awareness about the transformational role that network connectivity can play has set the tone for the growth of the networking market in India. Increasing PC penetration, along with the boom in the ITeS and BPO markets, has also contributed to this growth. Cisco recently conducted a study across 13 countries, including India. The study showed some interesting results. Two out of three workers expect IT to allow them access to corporate information with any device, personal or company-issued. Workers also rated the ability to work anywhere, anytime as stronger than the desire for a higher salary. Another leg of the survey showed disconnects between IT policies and the workforce. As technology trends alter the way businesses communicate and operate, employees work in a more mobile manner and use numerous devices, social media and new forms of communication such as video. More than two-third of the workers surveyed believed their companies’ IT policies could be improved, and at least two of every five said they break those policies to meet their needs. Overall, we are likely to see more momentum in technology investments to bridge the digital divide and drive inclusive growth in rural and semi-urban India. Wireless for last-mile connectivity in rural India and unwiring our cities will be the focus. Although the broadband Internet penetration rate in the country still remains below global standards, India’s large youth population will contribute to an increase in Internet subscriptions. A study by Springboard Research has predicted that the market for enterprise networking equipment in India is likely to grow from $1 billion in 2008 to $1.7 billion by 2012. Over the next few years we expect sectors such as government,

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

power, infrastructure and defense to continue to drive this growth. As rural India achieves last-mile connectivity it presents a huge opportunity for the IT sector. IT services, BFSI and telecom will continue to be key market adopters, while the government is likely to emerge as a big spender owing to the various e-governance and SWAN initiatives.

Video, virtualization On the technology front, we foresee a video explosion in homes and businesses as it is increasingly becoming the most important means by which we communicate and share information. Video applications will rapidly impact the IP telephony business in India. Unified communication systems (including IP phones, conferencing and messaging solutions) are fast gaining traction as productivity improvement tools among small and medium enterprises. In addition, collaboration will drive the next wave of increases in productivity. Collaboration technologies (unified communications, videoconferencing, telepresence, Web 2.0 applications) and mobility solutions (solutions that enable a user to access the network irrespective of his location, and solutions for the mobile workforce) will be the areas of focus. The integration of data, voice and video with mobility over the network has led to the development of technologies such as telepresence and digital media which have greatly enhanced the collaborative experience. Additionally, technologies such as data center virtualization will be high on every leader’s agenda to ensure optimal utilization of existing resources. Virtualization will play a big role in the near future as IT organizations morph into a more services management framework. Cloud computing and borderless networks will also see growth.

“IT growth will be furthered by the investments the government is making in the automation of land records, taxes, driving licenses and passports” Naresh Wadhwa

President & Country Manager, Cisco India & Saarc

Role of the government The growth of the IT sector will be furthered by the significant investments the government is making in the National e-Governance Plan to cover projects including the automation of land records, taxes, driving licenses and passports. This, along with increased public sector spending on data centers, projects such as the UID, and other public utility e-governance projects like e-Passport and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, will drive future growth of the IT sector. The advent of 3G in India has given the much-needed boost to mobile value-added services. Increased bandwidth will help improve the quality of video services which in turn will spur the growth of collaborative technologies. The health care and education sectors will continue to drive the growth of IT in India with medical facilities being delivered over the Internet through technologies like HealthPresence, and distance learning being imparted over the Internet to students in remote areas. ICT development in the energy sector also looks promising. Smart grid solutions for transmission and distribution automation, security, and business and home energy management, coupled with smart meter communications, will help to save huge amounts of energy and facilitate accurate distribution. n

Convergence will drive the consumerization of IT

e have seen growth coming back this year, and Indian companies recognizing IT as a key driver for future business growth and global competitiveness. Successful organizations use technology in a strategic way while sustaining a culture of entrepreneurship within the company even while gaining size. We have seen how these organizations continue to perceive IT as an enabler for almost all business activities. Also, most customers, especially the larger enterprises, will continue to look for vendors who offer a heterogeneous approach and do not tie them to proprietary technology costs. At the same time, more people are beginning to use technology in their personal lives for entertainment, mobility and gaming. Interpersonal relationships have been redefined with social networking, while those on-thego expect connectivity anywhere, anytime. Entertainment content is growing continuously as GenY begins to look for music, videos and other content beyond the mainstream, and as the boundaries between consumption and creation continue to blur. Today, we stand at an inflection point in the computer industry where virtualization, mobility, cloud computing, storage requirements, the digital home, personalization, data access and security concerns are fundamentally changing the way people use technology.

Prominent trends The consumerization of IT is among the most significant emerging trends where technologies emerge first in the consumer market and then spread to business organizations. This results in a shift in IT innovation from large businesses to the home, and a convergence of the IT and consumer electronics industries. Customers tell us they want 12

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

the same experiences at work as they have at home, no longer differentiating between the consumer electronic, computing and entertainment industries. They just want seamless, always-on connectivity to their social networks and content. As 3G becomes more pervasive, we will see a rise in this trend. This is bringing new opportunities for us to apply consumer-driven innovation in the business solutions we deliver. It’s also driving a new mindset of open collaboration and freedom with the blurring of work and home, especially with the emergence of new mobile devices in different form factors. Virtualization is the ultimate ‘do more with less’ answer for business. Server virtualization became one of the biggest trends in 2010 as enterprises saw how virtualized servers offer the benefits of increased utilization of resources; reduced space, power and cooling; reduced TCO; increased ROI of servers; improved IT agility; and reduced provisioning time. Given the focus on driving cost efficiencies, productivity and business growth, we expect virtualization to continue holding sway, but expect customers will want total virtualized environments, with open, capable and affordable data center solutions. Mobility will continue to grow and thrive as companies innovate to meet the varied requirements of customers. We expect to see a proliferation of devices in different screen sizes to meet different needs as accessibility to information-onthe-go becomes inevitable. At Dell, we shall continue to work toward offering a choice to consumers so they may choose the most relevant and convenient form factor (or more than one device) based on their needs. The cloud, according to IDC, is globally growing six times faster than traditional IT spending. As

“While SMBs will benefit from the cloud, they will need a clear roadmap because many SMBs have been unable to integrate business processes due to the high cost and complexity involved” Mahesh Bhalla

GM, Consumer & SMB, Dell India

companies large and small begin to experiment with the best way to leverage the cloud, we believe we will see a hybrid model of private and public clouds. A key challenge to cloud adoption will be around integration. While many predict how SMBs will benefit from the cloud, we believe they will need a clear roadmap because many SMBs have been unable to integrate business processes due to the high cost and complexity involved.

Channel focus The Indian IT market is underpenetrated, hence there is great opportunity for us to work with our partners to offer differentiated solutions. With a growing economy, the coming of broadband, increased PC penetration and the proliferation of mobility through an increased number of devices, we will look to work closely with the channel to facilitate IT adoption by different segments. In order to reach more customers and more markets, it is imperative for vendors and partners to work in tandem. For this to happen, partners need to understand customer pain-points, and be informed about product/solution offerings and their suitability. Dell will look to lead the way by offering solutions which are easy to purchase, grow, implement and operate, and give people the power to do more—with their resources, with their work, with their lives. n

Prepare for transformation

ear 2009 saw a severe downturn, and all IT businesses were affected. Many companies had to take drastic measures to stay solvent, and many others were forced to shut down. The recovery process started at the beginning of 2010 as the industry hobbled to achieve some sense of sanity in its business operations. However, something had changed permanently. Most organizations realized that business as usual wasn’t good enough. The industry saw a large number of high-profile acquisitions which in turn polarized the industry into two camps. The members of the first camp were players who aimed to become one-stop-shops for their customers. The second comprised players who worked on the concept of best-inclass offerings in terms of technology and services. Industry dynamics also altered dramatically. Friends became foes, and this convinced many players who had hitherto worked independently to form collaborative alliances. In the pre-downturn era, when the going was good, most businesses were reluctant to change. However, the downturn forced organizations to look at their business operations and analyze if they had what it took to stay competitive. What emerged from this introspection was the realization that traditional data center architectures were built in rigid silos which made IT inflexible and inefficient. Organizations were limited by IT’s inability to react quickly to business and economic challenges. Existing infrastructures were plagued by inefficient architectures where compute, network and storage resources were locked down in silos and couldn’t be used optimally. In addition, infrastructure was sized for peak loads, and remained underutilized for most of the time.

Impact of cloud computing Over the past one year cloud computing has started making its 14

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

presence felt. Besides the widespread attention it has generated, it has also created a lot of pressure on CIOs—for the first time, there is an external benchmark against which IT organizations can compare their performance. Cloud service providers are offering superior SLAs at lower cost, so, notwithstanding concerns related to security, managements are forced to evaluate how they can build similar flexibility and efficiency into their own IT operations. The key to achieving this kind of flexibility and efficiency is to break down the application-specific silos and leverage a shared IT infrastructure. Virtualization has already shown how applications could be de-coupled from the hardware layer. Virtualization is allowing applications to be moved seamlessly across different hardware and even across different sites. Innovation in networking and storage virtualization technologies is making it easier to build a homogeneous pool of resources which can be provisioned on demand, and grow and shrink elastically to meet the demands made by applications during peak and offpeak loads. Server virtualization is unlocking the underutilized compute resources in data centers to drive higher efficiency. Storage resources have traditionally been underutilized—the utilization levels have been 30-35 percent. Storage is one of the highest spends in the data center, also one of the highest consumers of electricity. It is therefore important to arrest this spiraling problem which has been compounded by explosive data growth. The storage industry has responded with innovations such as thin provisioning, thin replication, thin cloning, non-performanceimpacting RAID 6, the ability to run production environments on SATA, FlashCache and data compression technologies. Traditional scale-up architectures have been also a bottleneck, so the industry has responded with scale-out

“Cloud computing is creating a lot of pressure on CIOs. For the first time, there is an external benchmark against which IT organizations can compare their performance” Surajit Sen

Director, Channels & Marketing Alliances, NetApp

architectures which allow data centers to leverage storage virtualization and scale performance and capacity.

Change driving transformation The adoption of shared infrastructure in data centers has changed the rules of the game for vendors. The customers’ decision-making criteria have altered, and they are looking for mandatory capabilities like scale up and scale out, storage efficiency, intelligent caching, unified architecture, integrated data protection, non-stop operations, secure multi-tenancy and service automation and analytics. Customers have also altered their buying behavior. With data center operations becoming complex, organizations are looking at systems integrators (SIs) who can not only help them integrate and implement their data center infrastructure but also help them evaluate the right technology and run it for them. This has some serious implications for traditional VARs and SIs. They now have to upscale their skills to remain trusted advisors to their customers. Customers are also looking for options to change their capex to opex, and SIs need to offer these options to customers. All these aspects have ensured that the coming year will see a transformation of the IT industry and its players. Organizations which respond to these changes quickly will emerge as winners. n

Cyberoam Named as UTM Appliance Vendor in India Source: IDC UTM Report for India, Q3 2010

Cyberoam thanks its partners and customers for putting faith and making it the No. 1 UTM player in India. Some of the major factors that helped Cyberoam achieve this feat could be attributed to excellent product, partner's support to Cyberoam customers, higher value for money to its customers, excellent post sales and pre sales support and aggressive marketing, making it the top most player in its segment. Cyberoam Product Portfolio: Cyberoam UTM | Cyberoam SSL VPN | Cyberoam iView | Cyberoam Endpoint Data Protection For more information please contact marketing@cyberoam.com Awards & Certifications:

Elitecore Product

Expect major changes in the PC market

C commoditization is changing market dynamics in the consumer space, altering buying behavior and possibly driving the market to include nontraditional technology segments. PC demand is growing outside of India’s large cities. Vendors are seeing increasing demand from smaller cities where PC penetration has increased considerably. Increased income and declining PC prices are significantly contributing to this growth. In our estimate, roughly 35 percent of PCs are today sold in tier3 and tier-4 cities. This will increase to 50 percent by the end of 2013. A major battle for market share gains will be played out in smaller cities in 2011. All PC vendors today are challenged in one or the other aspect when selling in smaller cities. As a result, we are likely to see some interesting innovations in their go-to-market strategies, both in the consumer and commercial segments. Gartner believes that touchscreen based PCs will gain traction over the next four years led by demand from the youth segment. More than 50 percent consumers under the age of 15 years will switch to touch PCs or notebooks by 2015. Another big trend we are likely to see is the lowering of price barriers in the notebook segment. In India, by 2015, 20 percent of mobile PCs shipped will cost less than Rs 14,000. In fact many will be sold as part of a cloud service and/or broadband service.

Consumer PC trends The consumer PC market segment is poised for strong growth over the next five years. In 2011, we expect the PC home segment to grow at an

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

impressive 29 percent. A number of factors will drive this growth. • Aggressive marketing by PC vendors will lead to an increased desire among consumers to own a PC. • An improvement in broadband speeds with the launch of 3G services and fourth generation broadband services will make using a PC a far richer experience. • The introduction of computer education in secondary schools is leading parents to invest in PCs. • Increasing rural prosperity and better electrification will make PC purchases a more realistic option for consumers in rural areas.

Enterprise market trends The purchasing of PCs in the enterprise segment is undergoing a sea-change as companies increasingly adopt a solution-centric approach. With CIOs under pressure to reduce PC spending, they have begun evaluating and deploying alternate PC technologies such as hosted virtual desktops, server-based computing and blade PCs. Today, when vendors pitch their products to clients, they are invariably asked about their solutions in virtualization. As a result, we expect pure-play box sellers to lose market share in the enterprise segment in the coming years. Customers in technology refresh recycles have been purchasing notebooks instead of desktops, entry prices of mainstream processorbased notebooks have declined, and there will be large deals through governments—400,000 notebooks will be purchased over the next six months across 13 states.

“All PC vendors are challenged in one or the other aspect when selling in smaller cities. As a result, we are likely to see some interesting innovations in their go-to-market strategies” Vishal Tripathi

Principal Analyst, Gartner India

Gartner is very bullish about the education sector, mainly at the institutional level. So far business schools and institutes providing post-graduate education provided PCs to their students. However, in the past few quarters, we have seen engineering institutes and even secondary schools purchasing PCs as many leading schools have begun deploying digital education solutions.

Smartphones More PC OEMs are getting into smartphones. As smartphones become faster and more featurerich, and with the advent of faster Internet access through 3G, vendors realize that this will be a booming segment. Another reason for PC vendors to enter the smartphone category is because, increasingly, many of the PC functions are now available on the phones. So in a way PC vendors are protecting their turf. Vendors such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and even Lenovo are offering handheld devices as a flanking strategy to ward off competition from Qualcomm, Nokia and Samsung. We expect this trend will increase in the coming months; however, it will be long before PC OEMs will be able to make a serious impression in the smartphone market in terms of market share.

Tablets A lot has been written about how tablets will eat into the PC market. Everyone expects tablets to be a runaway success. However, Gartner believes that in India it will be some time before tablets really take off. The main reason is the price-point. At current prices tablets look very expensive. Also, from a formfactor perspective, consumers will find it difficult to use it as a voice device. In addition, there is no difference between the smartphones and tablets in terms of user interface except the variance in size. For instance, Apple is using the same iPhone OS for its iPad and so is the case with Android. Google is now improvising on its Android platform and is in the process of launching a platform optimized for

the tablet. It will be interesting to see what Apple does with its new version of iPad due for launch soon, and how different Google’s soon-to-belaunched tablet platform will be from its smartphone platform. It will also be interesting to see how tablets are put to use in the enterprise environment. They would find use as in-flight entertainment tools, menu slates for dining places, e-catalogs for retailers, and digital text-books for schools. However, this would also require new and optimized applications. In our estimate, the initial adoption of tablets will happen in the consumer segment, and most certainly at the expense of mininotebook (netbooks). Globally, we have already seen netbook units

being impacted after the launch of tablets. Netbook sales have slowed since Q3 2010. We expect more than 50 percent of the netbook market to be cannibalized by media tablets worldwide during 2011. The revival of the netbook market will largely depend on fresh strategies by PC vendors and new products expected to be shipped by Intel and AMD later this year. n

Computer Reseller News

“The initial adoption of tablets will happen at the expense of netbooks. We expect more than 50 percent of the netbook market to be cannibalized by media tablets worldwide during 2011”

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

Escalating PC penetration will drive growth

ear 2010 was an eventful year of growth and profitability for the Indian IT industry as a whole. Quite a few interesting technology developments took center stage. Cloud computing and SaaS gained more acceptance and momentum. Tablets, netbooks and feature-rich smartphones captivated consumers globally and created a new wave of expectations and yearning in India as well. The launch of 3G and a substantial increase in broadband penetration ensured the launch of more new technology devices in 2010. The advent of all-in-ones (AIOs) and their subsequent acceptance by consumers was a significant development of the year. Channel partners who spotted these trends early, identified the right product, created the proper communication mix and capitalized on this growth wave emerged successful. Most companies invested a lot in enhancing their channel relationships. 2011 looks even more promising. The global economy seems to be buoyant. While there is still cautious optimism everywhere, the economic downturn is gradually proving to be a thing of the past. According to Gartner, in 2011, worldwide PC shipments will reach 409 million units, a 15.9 percent increase from 2010. For starters, most players are expected to unveil next-generation technology products such as tablets and slates. Emerging markets like India and Russia will stimulate growth for PC companies.

Domestic growth story For the Indian PC market, Gartner expects a growth of over 25 percent in 2011. India PC shipments are expected to be around 13.2 million units this year. Since India’s metros and other large cities already have good PC penetration, it is now the country’s smaller cities that are 18

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

seeing notable growth in PC sales, so much so that the report forecasts that 35 percent of the PC revenue is going to come from what Gartner classifies as tier-3 and tier-4 cities. This figure is expected to grow to 50 percent by the end of 2013. Particularly in India, growth drivers such as the burgeoning youth segment, increasing computerization by the government, booming industry, mushrooming SMB base and rising demand from upcountry locations will help escalate the demand for PCs.

Product trends On the product front, while notebooks and netbooks will continue to evolve into more sleek and stylish computing devices, AIOs will emerge as a steady contender for first-time PC buyers or for those who are looking to purchase a spacesaving yet powerful machine. Microsoft’s Windows 7, Intel’s new processor technologies and Google’s Android platform will play a considerable role in propelling the development of avant-garde computing and mobile Internet devices by PC companies in 2011. Tablets and even more advanced smartphones will continue to captivate consumers who are looking for easy mobility, good performance and aesthetic looks. The Indian consumer has become more discerning today given the varied options in the market. This has resulted in consumers becoming more price-sensitive and valueconscious, and at the same time unwilling to compromise on product quality and features. Environmental sustainability will also be a key priority for device manufacturers in 2011.

What’s in for the channel For the IT channel ecosystem, it is imperative for PC vendors and channel partners to fortify their relationships further and gain a

“India PC shipments are expected to grow by more than 25 percent to cross 13 million this year, and nearly 35 percent of this will be sold in tier-3 and tier-4 cities” Alex Li

Vice President, Home & SMB, Lenovo India

deeper understanding of the Indian PC market dynamics, especially purchase behavior. Companies which invest in extensive training and skill development, along with thorough product and domain knowledge, will score over others. The channel should pay attention to on-ground developments and trends in the market, and work closely with PC players to quickly bring in-vogue products to the market. The right marketing communication mix is also crucial for leveraging consumer demand.

The go-to-market For Lenovo, India is clearly one of the fastest-growing markets, and we are bullish about increasing our market share and profitability here by offering the right product mix at competitive prices on a pan-India basis and supplementing these with innovative, engaging promotions to elicit favorable reactions from consumers. We will continue to drive consistent product innovation, understand the pulse of our customers, and develop gamechanging products that give us a competitive edge in the marketplace. We have a clear roadmap for India. Our aim is to drive better efficiency, expand our product portfolio and increase partner profitability while ensuring that our customers get nothing but the best. n

The cloud is the right route

s we stand at the doorstep of yet another promising year, the single most important technology trend that holds promise for the months ahead is cloud computing. According to IDC estimates, by 2011, 15 percent of all IT revenue will be tied to the cloud, either directly or through supporting infrastructure. Both public cloud services adoption and private cloud deployment will see steady growth. Gartner estimates that by 2012, 80 percent of Fortune 1000 enterprises will be using some level of cloud-computing services, and 30 percent will use cloud-computing systems and/or application infrastructure services. India presents a huge opportunity for cloud computing. A recent survey by Springboard Research estimated that 76 percent of the respondents polled in the country want to virtualize and adopt cloud computing in the next 18 months. This is the highest percentage as compared to other cloud-positive countries in the region such as Japan and Australia. India scored higher than both Singapore and Malaysia in current cloud understanding levels. (The survey polled 6,900+ respondents in all.) Cloud computing will also see increasing mainstream adoption. Gartner estimates that the SMB cloud market will exceed $30 billion by 2014, with the greatest demand from SMBs in North America followed by Western Europe then Asia/Pacific. As the hype surrounding the cloud gives way to a more grounded reality, cloud computing will be understood and appreciated as a sourcing model which is the very core of the concept. Cloud computing will emerge as a key growth driver triggering the availability of a range of cloud service options straddling, on one hand, the private cloud for

the enterprise-specific environment, and on the other, the public cloud in a public environment that can be used by any number of people and enterprises. While the growth of cloud computing has primarily been witnessed in the public space this far, IDC predicts that 2011 will see a major uptick in private cloud environments. Private clouds enable application use to scale up along with greater mobility even as the risk of private data being exposed is mitigated.

“A recent Springboard survey pointed out that 76 percent of the respondents in India want to virtualize and adopt cloud computing in the next 18 months” PALLAB TALUKDAR ceo, fuJITSu india

maximum profitability.

Offer clear value

Trusted Cloud is a term used by Fujitsu and other vendors to refer to an environment where a limited number of customers share a single cloud. By separating networks, this cloud can offer high levels of security. The hybrid cloud model, which is a combination of private, trusted and/or public clouds, may also become more widespread in future, mostly as a mixed form of internal and external IT service. This concept enables customers to connect their existing IT environment to the cloud. For example, the hybrid cloud can allow organizations to use hosted messaging services while keeping their archives on-premise to drive costs down. As the adoption of cloud computing rises, businesses will increasingly require reliable infrastructure, storage and tools to manage this environment. Forrester predicts that as cloud economics kick in, the first phase of such optimization will be to match elastic applications to cloud platforms and move transient applications in and out so their costs are returned to zero. The second phase would be designing and optimizing applications to take greatest advantage of the economics. The third phase would be knowing which cloud to use (and when) for

Even as cloud computing becomes a compelling reality, the ecosystem offers vendors-partners opportunities to align their solution portfolios to the various stages of its evolution and offer value along the entire spectrum. Fujitsu, as the world’s fourthlargest IT company, the world’s thirdlargest IT services company, and a front-runner in cloud computing, provides the Dynamic Cloud, a new set of pre-integrated and configured services enabling easier migration to private or hybrid cloud-based services. Building on Infrastructure as a Service, the Dynamic Cloud acts as a bridge between today’s largely on-premise data center infrastructures and tomorrow’s cloudbased delivery models. In 2011, systems integrators and value-added resellers, along with distributors, will be forced to better develop specialties by vertical industry and business solution to deliver the customer value required to survive in a cloud-enabled market. Already being pushed by their vendor suppliers to invest in skills around high-growth solutions, channel partners will need to elevate their customer intimacy and ability to deliver clear business value. The channel partner who will show patience in going through the new learning curve will make it to the next big league. n

Computer Reseller News

Different models

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

Technology at work

Advanced Systek reduces sales cycle time by 50 percent and boosts sales by 100 percent

Customer profile Company: Advanced Systek Pvt. Ltd Industry: Energy Country: India Employees: 208 Website: www.advancedsystek. com Business need Advanced Systek required a robust solution for their terminal automation systems. Solution Working with Dell partner, Informatics Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the organization standardized on Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers and Dell OptiPlex™ desktop PCs to deliver robust solutions for the energy market.

ITPL-Case Study-CRN-V1.indd 2-3

Dell™ ProSupport

Dell PowerEdge™ T410 server with Intel® Xeon® processors

and support services from Informatics Technologies Pvt. Ltd

Dell OptiPlex™ 380 desktop computers

Benefits • Year-on-year sales boosted by 100 percent • High customer satisfaction due to responsive onsite service • Collaborative relationship with channel partner wins new deals

“ The proactive approach Dell takes to service and support is a win for Advanced Systek and our customers. We view Dell as our preferred solution provider.”

Advanced Systek is India’s largest terminal automation systems supplier to the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. Located in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, Advanced Systek was founded in 1998, employing over 200 staff; the company holds nearly 60 percent of the Indian market for terminal automation systems. Advanced Systek provides complete life-cycle engineering services to the oil and gas industry both in India and abroad.

Advanced Systek customers benefit from fifty percent reduction in delivery times

Amit Parikh, general manager, sales and marketing, Advanced Systek Pvt. Ltd

IT provides the critical interface between automation, metering and safety components, and the software management system that automatically monitors and calibrates the flow of oil and gas. The challenge for Advanced Systek is to ensure their solutions are reliable, and that these solutions can operate on systems in remote locations with harsh atmospheric conditions and potentially hazardous environments. As customers expect a 10-year lifespan, the IT solution that Advanced Systek uses must be fault tolerant, scalable, and come with excellent onsite support. Delivering successful solutions based on a solid partnership With more than a decade in business, Advanced Systek has worked with numerous original equipment manufacturers to develop and test its terminal automation solutions. Recently, issues with late product delivery and poor customer support with its existing solutions provider had become a concern for the company.

Says Amit Parikh, general manager, sales and marketing , Advanced Systek, “Our decision to go with Dell was based on their track record of delivering robust IT solutions and providing excellent customer support. ” Since making the decision to standardize on Dell infrastructure, cus-

Hardware

Consultancy, systems integration,

At the advice of their IT channel partner, Informatics Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Advanced Systek turned to Dell, standardizing their solutions on Dell PowerEdge T410 servers with Intel Xeon processors and Dell OptiPlex 380 desktop PCs.

• OEM Solutions Group • Server consolidation • Standardization

Services*

tomer feedback has been positive. Says Parikh, “The proactive approach Dell takes to service and support is a win for Advanced Systek and our customers. We view Dell as our preferred solution provider.” Year-on-year sales boosted by 100 percent with Dell solution With more than 20 projects running concurrently each year, Advanced Systek is pleased with their Dell solution and support. Since opting for Dell as their preferred IT vendor, Advanced Systek has seen a 100 percent jump in year-on-year sales. Says Parikh, “By delivering costeffective solutions and first-class support, Dell has enabled us to grow our business by 100 percent. This is a fantastic return on our initial investment, and we are looking forward to continued success together.”

Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series is ideal for the small to medium-sized business looking for great intelligent performance, cost and energy efficiency

Advanced Systek customizes their solutions for each individual project and as a result, projects include extensive testing prior to installation at the customer sites. To expedite the process, Advanced Systek requires a solution provider that can deliver solutions in the shortest time possible. Dell’s highly efficient distribution systems and support have helped Advanced Systek to decrease their delivery times by fifty percent, improving the customer experience in the process. “With our previous IT solution provider, it used to take six to eight weeks for servers to arrive. With Dell, our servers are delivered in half that time, ultimately reducing our sales cycle time.” notes Parikh. Collaborative relationship with channel partner wins new deals

50%

Sales cycle time reduced

100%

Year-on-year sales boosted

High customer satisfaction due to responsive onsite service As terminal automation solutions are highly complex and operate in harsh conditions, inevitable system issues arise from time to time. However, with the support of Dell ProSupport, Advanced Systek has confidence that any issues can be resolved immediately and effectively.

• Advanced Systek customers benefit from 50 percent reduction in delivery times

ITPL is a proud Dell Certified Partner with a reputation of 18 yrs of presence in the region, having huge customer base, aggressive sales force, and service capabilities. They excel in delivering quality products & high efficiency IT solution to small to medium sized organizations. They are Happy to be a part of Dell PartnerDirect Program and believe they would together with Dell be able to service IT solutions requirements of customers quite efficiently.

Remarks Parikh, “The support we receive from Dell has been excellent to date, and our customers are impressed.”

An excellent working relationship with Dell’s channel partner, Informatics Technologies, has been instrumental in assisting Advanced Systek in winning new project tenders and contracts. Notes Parikh, “Informatics Technologies understand our requirements and have been highly efficient. They have shown great flexibility, and without their support, we would not be able to compete effectively to win new tenders.”

For more information go to: dell.com/casestudies and dell.co.in

View all Dell case studies at: dell.com/casestudies *Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit dell.com/servicedescriptions December 2010. © 2011 Dell inc. Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Intel and Intel Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. This case study is for informational purposes only. Dell makes no warranties, express or implied, in this case study.

Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series is ideal for the small to medium-sized business looking for great intelligent performance, cost and energy efficiency

1/10/2011 11:48:04 AM

The three game-changers

ompanies with a focus on virtualization have realized that IT performance isn’t locked in a server, a storage array, or a networking switch. Performance is derived from the combination of these devices in the data center as they unite to form resources that can be flexibly used for computing needs. This concept applies to the cloud as well. Cloud computing has gained more acceptance in the Indian market, and major business houses have initiated cloud-compliant processes. There is an increased focus on building cost-effective, dynamic infrastructure to replace distributed physical servers which are expensive and inefficient to manage, consume large amounts of power, and lack the scalability to meet long-term goals. Globally, the IT industry is in a transition phase. A recent Japanese government study forecasts the global economy to grow by 0.3-0.4 percent in 2011. The US administration has predicted that the pace of recovery will be more gradual than what historical trends suggest, partly due to weakened domestic demand caused by continued unemployment. The world’s largest economy is expected to grow at 2-2.4 percent in 2011. In India, the virtualization services market is predicted to reach $11.7 billion this year. According to a recent Gartner report, overall ICT spends in India will reach $71.9 billion in 2011, a 10.3 percent increase from 2010 spends. Hardware is the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR of 20.4 percent through 2014. Clearly, 2010 was the year of cloud computing. The Indian IT landscape evolved and reflected the need for organizations to demand significant returns on every rupee invested in IT infrastructure. The challenges were around reduced IT costs and energy consumption. The challenges of 2011 are largely around the quantity and quality of physical infrastructure, other macro-economic factors, and a skills shortage. 22

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

Over the past decade the Indian IT/ITeS sector has become the country’s premier growth engine, crossing major milestones in terms of revenue growth, employment generation and value creation, and becoming the global brand ambassador for India. According to a research report published by Nasscom, the IT-BPO industry is estimated to aggregate revenues of $73.1 billion in FY2010 with the IT software and services industry accounting for $63.7 billion. IT services was expected to grow by 2.4 percent in 2010 and 4.2 percent in 2011 as companies coming out of recession harness IT to create their own competitive advantage.

Key technologies and trends Our opinion, backed by leading analysts such as Gartner, is that the following are the top three technology game-changers to watch out for. Cloud Computing: Cloud computing services range from open public to closed private. The next three years will see the delivery of a range of cloud service solutions that fall between these two extremes. Vendors will offer packaged private cloud implementations that deliver the vendor’s public cloud service technologies (software and/or hardware) and methodologies (that is, best practices to build and run the service) in a form that can be implemented inside the consumer’s enterprise. Mobile Applications & Media Tablets: Gartner estimated that by the end of 2010, 1.2 billion people would carry handsets capable of rich media and mobile commerce, and providing an ideal environment for the tighter convergence of mobility and the Web. Mobile devices are becoming computers in their own right, with an astounding amount of processing ability. There are already hundreds of thousands of applications for the Apple iPhone. Social Communication & Collaboration: This can be divided into:

“In India, the virtualization market is predicted to reach $11.7 billion this year and the overall ICT spends in the country will reach $71.9 billion in 2011” Ganesan Arumugam Director, Partner Sales, VMware India

Social networking: Social profile management products such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendster, as well as social networking analysis technologies that use algorithms to understand and connect human relationships to access people and expertise. Social collaboration: Technologies such as wikis, blogs, instant messaging, collaborative office and crowd sourcing. Social publishing: Technologies that assist communities in pooling individual content into a usable and accessible content repository, such as on YouTube and flickr. Social feedback: Gaining feedback and opinion from the community on specific items as evident on YouTube, flickr, Digg and Amazon.

Services-led solutions For the channel, the next few years will be defining as the concept of service-led solutions is gaining ground. Customers increasingly want solutions accompanied by a strong service assurance as we have seen in the virtualization segment, and that has also been one of the key reasons for cloud computing catching the customers’ fancy. Our GTM for 2011 focuses on developing a complete partner ecosystem which includes OEMs, solutions providers, SIs, ISVs, service providers and distributors. We are also extending our reach to tier-2 cities with our partner network. n

Mobility will be key

he year 2010 was a year of leadership and innovation when personal computing expanded beyond the PC to nearly every kind of electronic device, transforming the entire industry in the process. The IT landscape was dominated by the three ecosystem vectors—connectivity, convergence and content. Indian consumers lived the digital experience in many senses through the explosive growth in the variety of devices (mobile handsets, smart handheld devices, notebook PCs, netbooks), means of access (mobile, landline, cable and digital satellite TV), and applications (games, ringtone and music downloads, educational content, information and infotainment). While the global economic situation is still on a slow recovery process, India is one of the few countries that have shown strong economic recovery after the global financial shakeout. For India to come back on the high growth trajectory, public policy must promote business confidence and facilitate increased investment. We expect private corporate investment and total investment in fixed assets to recover strongly in 2011. Moreover, the IT landscape in India seems very promising in the forthcoming year and we expect strong overall growth in this domain. IT budgets are likely to increase in 2011, and in keeping with this trend organizations may look at ways of maximizing their IT spends for productivity, expansion and increased security. New technologies and trends will create new experiences for pervasive computing. Users will have a choice among various devices and technologies that provide the best experience for their intended use. Today, there’s a fundamental shift in the way businesses are using IT software and hardware. With an increase in the demand for wireless access technologies, mobility and connectivity will be key factors that drive growth in the IT business in 2011. More businesses are relying on

the delivery of IT infrastructure and applications over the Internet or the cloud to provide IT applications in a cost-effective manner. Globally, cloud computing is being slated as the next big thing, and we believe that it will continue gaining momentum in 2011. The 3G/ BB rollout by telecom companies will help accelerate the adoption of computing in the consumer/SMB segments. The enterprise cloud will take off as more cloud-based services are recast for business use, including social networking. With most large corporations ploughing through the virtualization of their respective environments in 2010, 2011 will see the build-out of internal cloud solutions. However, the adoption of this technology poses serious security challenges, and IT companies will focus on initial capabilities for infrastructure protection and for securing business intelligence. The IT industry will also see strong growth in the hardware category, with increased laptop sales in the coming year. With improved business-class capabilities like anti-theft technology, IT spending on server, PC and laptop upgrades will also increase. Newer innovations and manufacturing techniques will continue to defy the sceptics who claim Moore’s Law is dead. This means that in the coming years, as billions of new devices acquire computing capability and Internet connectivity, they will have substantially higher performance capabilities with more features embedded in their silicon that also cuts power consumption and extends battery life.

“With an increase in the demand for wireless access technologies, mobility and connectivity will be key factors that drive growth in the IT business” Rajesh Gupta

Director, Sales & Marketing Group, Intel South Asia

In September 2010, Intel disclosed details of its second-generation Intel Core processor family (code-named ‘Sandy Bridge’) that will power the latest desktop computers, laptops and servers. Sandy Bridge, which will be launched globally in early 2011, will deliver enhanced visual features including high-definition video,

stereoscopic 3-D, mainstream gaming, multi-tasking, online socializing and multimedia. 2011 will also see the implementation of more connected devices and embedded technologies across all industries. Intel will focus on its Atom processor that will enable intelligent devices, empowering people with new connected experiences and providing consumers with thinner and faster devices. Intel’s Core vPro processors as well as its acquisition of McAfee are part of the ongoing commitment to security that the industry will demand due to the adoption of cloud technology in 2011. Finally, we believe in delivering the ultimate experience to the end customer, be it in terms of products or services, and we therefore consider channels to be an integral part of our business. The opportunity for channels is huge given the low installed base. Broadband connectivity will help accelerate PC penetration in India, and channels will need to move up the value chain to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities. At Intel, our channel efforts will remain focused on connecting with the end user and making the Intel brand relevant and top-of-mind during a PC purchase. We will continue investing in training our channel partners in new technologies/solutions that will help them gain the edge in providing a superior experience to the end consumer. n

Computer Reseller News

Sandy Bridge

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

Desktop virtualization to go mainstream

f there was ever a year where do-more-for-less was a mantra, 2010 was that year. And one technology rose above the rest to deliver—virtualization. Of the 10 technology trends forecast by Gartner to most impact 2010, virtualization was a key driver or enabler behind many—for example, cloud computing, client computing, green IT, reshaping the data center and virtualization for availability. In a commercial world where competition and winning takes precedence, it is interesting that a technology which is essentially about sharing took center stage in 2010. The impact of the local and global recession definitely accelerated the importance and acceptance of sharing and shared resources. The fact that much of the historic technology complexity and cost of deployment barriers associated with virtualization began to fall away also played an important role in its adoption. Regardless of the drivers, virtualization established itself as a pivotal technology investment and deployment strategy across businesses of all sizes in 2010.

Profitability paradox At first look, such a trend would not seem to fare well for the channel. Offering products and services which basically deliver vastly more compute and computing power from less seems counter-intuitive from a business and profitability perspective. However, an important learning for the channel, and one which must continue in 2011, is the significant growth and margin opportunity that virtualization, particularly desktop virtualization, creates. While I have been evangelizing low-to-no-cost desktop access devices for years, and have been a loud advocate of true market pricing, I am also totally committed to creating a quality margin business for the channel. It is a myth that 24

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

desktop virtualization delivers below PC-type margins. If that was the case, we’d all be out of business. Desktop virtualization offers considerable cross- and up-selling opportunities, delivers softwaretype margins, and presents the means to create true value-add relationships between channel and customer. When customers adopt and deploy desktop virtualization, the opportunity to cross- and up-sell value-added technologies and services is deep and rich. The massive savings realized by virtualized desktops—such as 70 percent lower cost of acquisition and 75 percent reduced ongoing maintenance costs—can be reallocated to solution-based and vertically-tailored products and services that create deep systemic relationships between customer and channel. In short, while desktop virtualization is transforming the economics of PCs and breaking down the legacy domains of stalwarts such as Dell and HP, it is creating entirely new business and economic opportunities to the advantage of customer and channel.

Leading the world As we enter 2011, the technology industry has been identified as a key industry to help lead the world out of recession. Innovation which helps leverage and accelerate the business and economic advantages of globalization; which weaves together disparate and remote workforces into singular, powerful and more productive entities; and which protects the security of information will continue to find markets and success. This is why the adoption of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, client computing and virtualized availability will continue to be prominent trends. While these macro developments take shape, let’s not overlook the small business environment. My money is on the small business

“For the channel, desktop virtualization represents a business development opportunity, one that delivers the all-important three Ms: Money, Market and Margin” Stephen Ducker CEO, Ncomputing

people to help us out of the recession. Technology solutions that help the small business perform better, faster and more efficiently are going to be of great importance—and an opportunity through 2011. I believe the technologies which will help drive globalization and the infrastructure of large enterprises, government institutions and education establishments will be the same as those that will help drive small business success—the only difference being size and scale. I also believe that virtualization will be a critical technology across this ecosystem. The pundits are looking to India and China to deliver the lion’s share of growth this year. In fact Nomura Holdings, one of the world’s largest investment banks, forecasts India and China to deliver over half of the global growth in 2011. For India, developing and maintaining a strong and stable operating infrastructure and ensuring consistent availability of critical resources (such as power) will be crucial, and technology solutions which help deliver them will be well-placed for success. 2011 will also be a do-more-forless year. Virtualization, because it is the essence of do-morewith-less, will continue to be an important technology trend. For the channel, this represents a business development opportunity, one that delivers the all-important three Ms: Money, Market and Margin. n

Deliver value with open source

ear 2010 continued from where 2009 ended, with the global economy trying to wriggle out of recession. Though India was largely unaffected, sentiments were definitely low, IT projects were put on hold, no new projects were announced, and companies tried various ways to innovate and achieve their annual targets. It was then that companies relooked at open source as a solution to their issues and were pleasantly surprised at how it had matured over the years. Open source had clearly hit the mainstream, and had become a compelling alternative with very high performance advantages and a reliability fit for running missioncritical applications. Cost savings was another major driver—savings in software maintenance costs, total cost of ownership and development costs. This also threw up a number of opportunities for channel partners to capitalize on. Many recognized this changed environment as enterprises increased their commitment to open source and started offering services in the open source space. Big players who had a successful dedicated open source practice increased focus on the same. With the launch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, open source (and Linux particularly) will become more dominant in the coming decade. Cloud computing and virtualization (server and desktop) were viewed far more favorably than before. Virtualization will definitely become the norm in 2011, and customers will also dabble with virtualizing their mission-critical applications.

Outlook for the year Multiple research reports have said that the global economy is expected to average a modest 4 percent growth in 2011. The greatest challenges to this will come from uneven recovery in the global economy: emerging

markets have seen blistering growth, so overheating in 2011 remains a possibility; the Euro zone faces enormous challenges, including sovereign defaults; and America still has some way to go in addressing unemployment and the growing deficit. Enterprises need to continually transform the way they do business to stay relevant in both good and challenging times. Virtualization is a key enabler for technologies wanting to achieve improvements in the data center and in business processes. Virtualization is what makes cloud computing viable—and cloud computing is the great game-changer for the coming years.

“Smartphones will dominate the IT conversation as enterprises rise to the challenge posed by employees to use the same device of their choice for work and personal use” Jaideep Kumar

Head, Channels & Distribution, Red Hat India

to be an evolution, not a revolution or a monolithic stack locked to the technology roadmap and business practices of a single vendor.

Channel opportunity

Smartphones will dominate the IT conversation as enterprises rise to the challenge posed by employees to use the same device of their choice for work and personal use. Security, always never far away, will remain top-of-the-mind, particularly in the light of current headline events. We will see increased application of social computing in business. Currently nascent, this will gain greater traction as enterprises apply social computing to achieve a more collaborative workplace. The rise of virtualization and cloud computing will continue. Cloud computing is a hugely important evolution in the way businesses and individuals consume and operate computing. It’s a fundamental shift to an operational model in which applications don’t live out their lives on a specific piece of hardware. Red Hat’s cloud vision is unlike that of any other IT vendor. We recognize that IT infrastructures will continue to be composed of pieces from many different hardware and software vendors. Red Hat enables customers to use and manage these diverse assets as one cloud, thus enabling the cloud

2011 will be a growth year for the entire IT market. Channel partners focusing on providing value-added services and specialized services will thrive. Customers are evaluating alternative solutions for day-to-day problems and readying themselves for a world where the cloud will be a business reality. Interoperable and seamless solutions will be the norm of tomorrow. The adoption of open source technology is already evident across industries. IT partners would do well to focus on delivering value to their customers with open source solutions. In November 2010, Red Hat made available Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the latest major release of its flagship operating platform, and set the scene for server operating systems for the next decade. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, the company is defining new standards for commercial open source operating environments. The product is designed to deliver the foundation that customers need for physical, virtualized and cloud deployments. It provides businesses with the flexibility they need to not only survive but also thrive as they make the transition to the next generation of IT computing and beyond. n

Computer Reseller News

Technologies & trends

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

Focus on value addition

will term 2010 as a year full of positivism and optimism. We have seen the market picking up on expected lines, though it would be premature to say that it has met our expectations fully since most of us close in March. The currents that picked up this year look strong enough to continue in future, so we foresee 2011 to be a better year. We will remember 2010 for its association with the number ‘3’ in terms of technologies that caught our fancy this year—3D, 3G, USB 3.0 and the shift to DDR3 memory modules. What the IT industry cannot afford to ignore is that endcustomers have adapted to these technologies positively, hence it becomes important for the entire IT supply chain to keep abreast of their customers’ likes, dislikes, demands and choices.

The India advantage Globally, most of the economies have started to stabilize. Markets such as South Africa, Russia, Middle East and India look good enough to pick up at a better pace in the coming year. The Indian economy is currently looking good, and is expected to remain good throughout this decade. The demand for IT products in the country is favorable, and may grow at the rate of 25-30 percent annually. The world is viewing India as the next big market, and so their energies are focused on the Indian market for future growth. Further, labor costs are going up in China, so we foresee the possibility of large IT manufacturing units shifting base to India by 201415. If this happens, IT penetration will increase on lines similar to China’s. At present, the Chinese IT market is six times bigger than the Indian IT market. The only hiccup that we really need to pay heed to is our weak infrastructure facilities; we must invest enough resources in our infrastructure to bring it on par with international levels. 2010 has seen a never-before 26

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

support and oneness at various levels of the supply chain. The year the post-global recovery period acted like a grace period when everyone was building on each other’s strengths and trying to eliminate weaknesses (if any) to grow mutually. We were offered exemplary innovations and technologies this year, but one technology, 3D, caught everyone’s attention. We saw a lot of investment in 3D both in terms of making the technology better and also in terms of promoting and marketing it. We also saw a shift in terms of spending on notebooks, netbooks and tablets. All mobile computing products were in huge demand especially by sectors such as government, defense, education and banking. The mobile handset segment saw unprecedented growth with a lot of players, especially locally-made brands, entering the market.

Market predictions The IT channel market will continue to grow at 25-30 percent year-on-year with large format retail gaining a good share of the market. The retail sector will fuel major demand for the newer technology-enabled products, especially 3G-supporting mobile phones and 3D-enabled devices. The trends for 2011 are in favor of the mobile segment; the entire segment is set to grow phenomenally. A lot of vendors are looking at launching products similar to the iPad which till now was viewed as a niche category. However, the sales figures achieved by iPad in a short period of one year tell a different story. Tablets could prove the biggest category innovation in the computing segment. Though the current set of products launched in the market are from mobile handset manufacturers, most PC OEMs have lined up their tablets for launch this year and it promises to be the most exciting category to watch in 2011. iPad’s success has also proved that well-conceived and well-designed

“The IT market in China is six times the Indian market. But with labor costs going up, there is a possibility of IT manufacturing shifting to India” Suresh Pansari Managing Director, Rashi Peripherals

products are capable of bringing about major shifts in customer mindsets in a shorter period of time than imagined. On the PC front, notebooks will continue to do better than desktops. But at the same time, desktops will continue to be in demand from the corporate sector, SMBs and the firsttime home user. A lot has been said about the declining market share of assembled desktops, but the growth in the components market in 2010 suggests a completely different picture—the assembled or do-it-yourself PC continues to retain its charm and market share. Another category that may take centerstage is the all-in-one PC. A lot of vendors are launching their ranges and are willing to spend good amounts on marketing these products.

Channel priorities Channels will have to try and focus on value additions and promote themselves as complete solutions providers to continue to enjoy a good rate of growth. With the growing competition from organized retail players, this personal value addition could well become a catalyst for their future growth. Given the amount of knowledge that end-users have access to nowadays, it’s important for every member of the IT channel to keep abreast of the latest advancements in the technology sector and upgrade accordingly. n

Become a trusted advisor

he Indian IT business is going through interesting times. End customers have become discerning, and this is an opportunity for partners to become really trusted advisors rather than just remaining sellers. Knowledge and awareness of the current threat landscape (when it comes to securing information) is assuming attention. For vendors, channel partners are the integral link that ties the customer to the brand, making them their allies in profitability as well as the ones who can offer expert advice on not only the product but also the technology, thus making it simpler for the end user. 2010 saw a trend wherein the consumerization of IT took off. This means that today’s employees bring their devices into their workplace, and due to a platform-agnostic lifestyle, staying connected holds true in business life as well. This gives rise to newer challenges, as well as a host of newer opportunities for the partner to add to his offerings and knowledge while working toward securing and managing the customer’s most important asset: information. In particular, we see the following approaches that partners can adopt in 2011 to meet the newer business challenges.

Become an expert A partner needs to be adding value to the customer’s overall experience. This can only be achieved if he—instead of just selling point products—provides IT solutions which solve business problems. In 2011, it will be important to deepen

one’s solutions expertise and establish a distinct position as the customer’s go-to IT expert. One would need to invest in training and accreditations that add to the overall credibility which you can bring to the end customer.

Differentiate yourself The market is flooded with multiple vendors selling various solutions. This means customers have options— and they know it. In order to stand out from the crowd, it’s important to differentiate oneself. If you’ve taken the time to invest in becoming an expert, let your customers know about it. Marketing yourself and your expertise will be an important part of this process.

Collaborate Your customers see you as their trusted IT advisor. So what do you do when they need a solution that you don’t have? Rather than turn them away, engage a partner in your ecosystem to help. Find another partner who has complementary expertise and bring him in to help you meet your customer’s needs. You won’t be giving anything away; rather, you’re showing your customer that you’re well-connected and are willing to be strategic to help him to get what he needs. In addition, you’ll build a relationship with the other partner who is more likely to call you when one of his own customers requires a solution which he can’t deliver.

“If your head is in the clouds, keep your feet on the ground and realize that customers are not going to move everything to the cloud right away” Vineet Sood

Head, Channel & Alliances, Symantec India

form of marketing. Data shows that a good marketing strategy can have a big impact on your bottom line. Collaborate with vendors to make use of existing resources to create customized campaigns.

Keep your feet on the ground

To break through the clutter, it’s imperative that you engage in some

Cloud computing is transforming IT service delivery, and almost everyone is trying to figure out how they can capitalize on it. The first step, if your head is in the cloud, is to keep your feet on the ground and realize that customers are not going to move everything to the cloud right away (or ever for that matter). Be sure you can offer your customers choice with both cloud-based and on-premise solutions. VARs can play a crucial role in helping customers navigate through the decision of what to move to the cloud. With the right strategy and combination of technologies, VARs can help their customers realize the costs and operational benefits of the cloud while mitigating the potential risks. A hybrid approach is what most customers will begin with. n

Computer Reseller News

Engage in marketing

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

The outlook seems positive

ost the global economic meltdown and a tumultuous 2009, 2010 saw stability. In fact 2010 was quite an eventful year for most companies across the vertical as the consequences of the global recession had started slowing down and it gradually turned out to be a year of global revival. 2010 did see an increase in IT purchases and also saw a lot of steadiness in the channel community and among vendors. The network segment in 2010 certainly did bring in a lot of good news as it was interesting to see that most organizations had increased their IT budgets and were also keen on bolstering their network security. Further, the increase in the implementation of IPv6 and the ratification of the 802.11N standard also fuelled the demand for wireless products. Since the last couple of years there has been an increase in the demand for wireless devices. It is a well-known fact that the adoption and usage of wireless networking products is growing at a steady pace in the home and enterprise segment. With more people availing Internet connections and an increase in the popularity and usage of mobile devices like laptops, smartphones and gaming consoles, there has been an increased demand for wireless networking in the consumer space. There has also been an entry of IP surveillance in the home segment and even some amount of data storage products such as NAS. This trend is expected to continue in 2011.

Looking at 2011 The global economic outlook continues to be hazy with the liquidity issues in Europe and interest rates normalization in China. As per some leading research reports, the advanced economies are projected to grow below 2 percent. However, emerging markets are expected to grow at three times a higher rate, with China leading the pack followed by India. This means that India can expect a lot of lucrative 28

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

growth opportunities in 2011 and also the emergence of newer market opportunities. Thus, the market is likely to see positive growth. Talking about the networking segment in particular, we see good growth arising for networking products as it is one of the key elements in any infrastructure project. Of late India is seeing a lot of investment in infrastructure projects which is helping the growth of the networking industry. The consumer, government and education verticals have also been making investments in the deployment of networking infrastructure, leading to increased demand for networking products which is again a very good sign for the growth of the networking industry. In future, as more businesses get automated, more value-added services will be offered to consumers; this means increased demand for connectivity and carrier devices. It has been reported that India has approximately 80 million Internet users, which is a huge number. But this is still less than 7 percent of our total population, which means a large market for broadband devices is still to be explored. Also, as the number of smartphone users increases, people would also like to access the Internet through the wireless medium at home. It is therefore essential for partners to gear-up and cater to the increasing demand for networking products/ solutions. Of the various other trends forecast for 2011, the two key technologies that IT partners should keep an eye on are cloud computing and mobile computing. Both these technologies are expected to mature even further, and therefore they represent a huge growth opportunity for partners in coming times. Partners need to prepare themselves for the oncoming changes. The overall industry outlook for 2011 looks positive as the market should continue with the momentum gathered in 2010. The IT industry should grow at 1.5-2 times that of our current GDP. However, this

â&#x20AC;&#x153;With better opportunities the competition is also set to increase as all major brands rush to set up their operations in Indiaâ&#x20AC;? Jayesh Kotak

VP, Product Marketing, D-Link India

largely depends on government spending. Overall, India as a country has continuously shown positive growth. Having said that, one also needs to understand that with better opportunities the competition is also set to increase as all major brands rush to set up their operations in India.

Key technologies & trends 3G: The third-generation technology is the current buzzword of the Indian communication sector. With customers demanding a faster and more robust Internet, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definitely one of the key technology drivers of 2011. The scope for 3G and the associated value-added services in both the consumer and enterprise space is tremendous. Surveillance and Storage: With the increasing danger of terrorism and other threats, the deployment of IP surveillance systems is growing. These days, a wide mix of verticals is opting for surveillance solutions. Moving ahead, there will be an increase in the deployment of surveillance in the SOHO and SMB segments. With this will arise the need for storage devices for video analytic purposes. Cloud computing and VAS: Cloud computing brings flexibility and cost effectiveness as a vendor can obtain the benefits of the infrastructure without having to implement and administer it directly. Thus, it is very likely that organizations in the near future may replace the on-premise model with the cloud model. n

Building high bandwidth infrastructure

ear 2010 had evident signs of economic recovery. Organizations resumed projects which had been put on hold due to recessionary conditions. Structured cabling in particular experienced a fair bit of change due to some mergers and acquisitions within the industry. Yet despite the economic recovery, everyone had a cautious approach. 2011 brings a more optimistic market sentiment. Investments made promise to be more productive and sustainable. Domestic demand will grow strongly. The Indian IT/ ITeS industry, which is seeing an expansion in the scope of its services, will witness consistent growth. BFSI, telecom, manufacturing and retail have enormous potential for growth, and will contribute majorly to the growth of the Indian economy. One can also anticipate growth in health care and hospitality. In the ICT market, growth from IT, telecom and consumer technology will generate significantly more digital information. This will require high-quality Layer 1 cabling infrastructure. Higher bandwidth networks capable of delivering data at greater speeds will be essential to allow people and organizations to communicate easily. The telecom sector is experiencing a revolution with new entrants in the market and the introduction of services such as 3G. Telecom, along with sectors such as retail, automobile, IT/ITeS and the

public sector, will need more stable and reliable networks. The IT/ITeS services market, servicing both domestic and global markets, would also experience growth in 2011. Considering that domestic demand will remain strong and that the global outlook will remain positive, the market will definitely move up.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Convergence of IT, telecom and consumer technology is generating more digital information. Higher bandwidth and faster networks will be the need of the hourâ&#x20AC;? Gaurav Ahluwalia Managing Director, R&M India

Trends & technologies With computers becoming more thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities, data processing is rising considerably. Mobile devices such as smartphones will add to the data. The reliance on technologies required to facilitate the surge in data communications will be higher than ever. Further, cloud computing, highdefinition video, data services and remote storage will require higher bandwidths that will in turn require high throughput fiber optic network infrastructure. In the current scenario, qualities such as agility and quick turnaround are highly sought by companies. In the structured cabling industry, the ability to plan, design, integrate and provide an end-to-end solution presents tremendous opportunity, hence having a solution-oriented approach can really make a difference. For many businesses, high availability of compute and network infrastructure has become vital. At the same time, IT managers are expected to keep operating costs under control and avoid downtime

at all costs. Statistics show that most downtime is due to problems with the passive infrastructure or due to human error. This means the problem has to be tackled at the level of the infrastructure planning and cabling, which is where new standards such as TIA942 and EN 50173-5 will come into play. Another trend is the need for sophisticated residential networks. Internet access is becoming a standard requirement in peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes. Computers, consumer electronics and intelligent building equipment communicate through a single network. Structured cabling is the ideal way to satisfy the growing network demands in the residential sector. The experience gained from structured cabling systems in office environments provides the basis for the modular home wiring system. This solution will emerge as the preferred choice for all new buildings and for complete renovations of existing properties. n

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

Moving from technology to business solutions

ear 2010 has ended on a positive note and witnessed recovery across various markets and industries. While the slowdown was at its peak at the beginning of the year, the last few months have seen organizations gearing up for growth, embarking on initiatives to reach out to new customers, and increasing market share. This has led to intense activity in the technology industry, and solutions providers are trying to create solutions to enable businesses to expand and consolidate their market reach. The channel landscape saw a shift with partners realigning their businesses to changing technology trends. They began shifting their focus from a pure box play to services. Another trend that was noticed: with traditional telco organizations offering solutions in the data center and cloud, the partner community also aligned itself and started investing heavily in this direction.

Macro trends The economic sentiment in India has been boosted by the growth forecasts for 2011. The IMF has estimated that India’s GDP will grow by 8.4 percent in 2011, which comes on the back of a strong projection of 9.7 percent growth in 2010. Nevertheless, companies have not forgotten the lessons of the slowdown. While they continue to make new investments and bet on the strong India story, they are also keen on cutting costs wherever possible. This is where technologies such as cloud computing come in. Cloud computing means a model in which providers deliver a variety of IT-enabled capabilities to consumers on a service-oriented architecture. Cloud services reduce IT overheads for user organizations and provide greater flexibility, reduced TCO, on-demand services and many other benefits. They can 30

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

provide growing businesses with the ability to deploy technology for growth without the associated capex and skilled manpower. They also help manage IT infrastructure costs. The new year is going to see service providers coming out with some real solutions for businesses by leveraging the cloud model. From compute infrastructure to business applications, everything seems to be going the pay-as-you-go way. This has the potential to revolutionize the way IT is bought and used. Cloud computing promises to remove the complexities of adopting IT and thus reinforces the proposition of offering business solutions rather than technology solutions. The service-based delivery model for IT solutions is going to dominate the market, and channel partners will therefore need to enhance their competence in this area. Also, businesses will look at facilitating enhanced collaboration across their employees, suppliers and partners. This would drive the need for collaboration and communication solutions.

Key drivers for IT adoption Organizations are increasingly taking up voluntary initiatives toward a greener way of operations. This not only helps them to contribute to the environment but also to lower costs. 2011 is going to see a lot of focus on the adoption of such technologies. New-age solutions such as telepresence would see more adoption by companies to cut on travel while enhancing workforce efficiencies. The availability of public telepresence rooms and cheaper hi-definition videoconferencing solutions is going to make this a reality for SMBs as well. The use of e-documents and collaborative workforce solutions will grow. For power savings, companies will look at outsourcing their in-house data centers to professionally-managed

“The new year is going to see service providers coming out with some real solutions for businesses by leveraging the cloud model. Everything seems to be going the pay-as-you-go way” Amit Sinha Roy

VP, Marketing & Strategy, Global Enterprise Solutions, Tata Communications

third-party data centers. This year will also see a big shift toward the mobile device becoming the preferred device for accessing a diverse set of applications. Enterprise applications will have to cope with this trend. The 3G and BWA rollouts promise to change the experience on the mobile device and open further avenues for technology companies to explore.

Opportunities for partners Cloud computing will no doubt be the biggest change that channels will need to manage over the next several years. It presents the channel with the opportunity to move to a serviceled business model which is not only more revenue consistent but also provides a deeper engagement with customers. Moving to cloud computing platforms can enable partners to reduce capital lock-in and manage changing customer demands better. Partners need to focus on a go-tomarket model whereby they sell new services to their existing customer base and also put in place a new customer acquisition plan to cover the medium enterprise segment. In 2011, as a company, we are looking at expanding our reach in the medium enterprise segment— the fastest-growing segment. Along with other offerings in the managed services portfolio, the cloud portfolio will add value to partners; this will enable them to grow their business by increasing customer retention. n

Prepare for exponential growth

arket dynamics and consumption trends for storage peripherals have changed drastically in 2010. Manufacturers had anticipated this and made attempts, through the year, to bridge the narrowing gap between personal and professional content creation, storage and sharing. As a result, 2010 saw vendors trying to break out of the mould and evolve to more innovative solutions. In terms of consumption patterns, the single most important development in 2010 has been the evolution of storage devices into onestop connectivity and entertainment solutions for offices and homes. Consumers don’t just want to store data; they want to access it on the go. They want their devices to be connected with each other for a complete digital environment in their homes. On the technology front, faster interfaces and improved performance in smaller form factors have been made widely available. Devices and components supporting USB 3.0 and FireWire interfaces, and even the next-generation SATA III, have been quickly adopted by consumers. Overall, consumers are spoilt for choice at the moment as manufacturers are packing better performance, higher capacities and more features in smaller form factors. Sales of ‘green’ drives have increased substantially, which indicates that computing requirements in homes have gone up, and users are looking at power-saving options. The demand for storage is obviously being driven by the fact that external storage, flash drives, media

players and even desktop drives are now fast-moving consumables. The number of individuals and enterprises to whom high-capacity storage is indispensable is rising by the day. Even stronger is the need for affordable and reliable devices. For these reasons, manufacturers have brought down prices of personal storage devices over the past couple of years. All these factors have resulted in an ideal market for Indian buyers. The channel is well-positioned to reap benefits from the evolving go-tomarket strategies of leading vendors.

“The single most important development in 2010 has been the evolution of storage devices into one-stop connectivity and entertainment solutions for offices and homes” Khwaja Saifuddin

Sr. Director (Sales), Middle East, Africa & South Asia, Western Digital

The first benefit manifests itself in the consolidation of the channel base currently being undertaken by vendors as they hit the market with an extended and diversified product portfolio. There is a clear opportunity for partners who step up to cater to the huge demand with a well-priced basket of storage devices for all needs. Vendors will prefer to work with fewer national distributors, thereby ensuring that partners push the brand and its portfolio. This will result in them operating at lower margins, but will push volumes up. The right strategy for partners therefore will be to plan their business with the best and most consistent vendor. The second benefit will yield itself through improved skill-sets and technical know-how. For instance, consider the evolving ecosystem of PC components; it demands a certain amount of awareness about upgradation and compatibility to sell a 3 TB or SATA III drive to firsttime users. Similar is the case with

a wide range of home entertainment and networking devices. In times of consolidation, as described above, partners can differentiate themselves from the competition through such value addition. The Indian storage peripherals market recorded good growth in 2010, and we expect it to maintain the trajectory in 2011. Convergence and the never-ending surge in digital technologies will drive this growth. We plan to ride on, or more appropriately, drive the wave of personal digital content and enterprise content. Along with products, we will continue to add new partners, especially in the upcountry markets in which we made inroads in 2010. The continued exponential growth of digital content combined with the convergence of storage and entertainment technologies will shape vendors’ plans for the year ahead. The ability to create and store personal digital content and enterprise content in a secure manner will gain prominence. n

Computer Reseller News

Two benefits

15/01/2011

www.crn.in

The cloud will gain critical mass

uch has been written about the cloud and its value for businesses which are considering automation. Given India’s legacy of leapfrogging technology trends and adopting the latest, it is no wonder that there is a large amount of interest in the latest poster-child of technology—the cloud. What does the cloud augur for Indian organizations? Will the adoption trend reach critical mass this year or will it be limited to early adopters alone? The answers to these questions would define boardroom strategies among IT vendors (and others) who are making a bee-line for their share of the opportunity. Here are five projections that could mirror the market trends as we start a fresh year.

From hype to ripe To borrow Gartner’s phrase, 2011 would see many organizations taking the plunge into the cloud. While a cloud-wash may not be imminent, over 30 percent of Indian organizations are expected to explore the magic, mysteries and imminent rewards of the cloud, subscribing to at least two services as they start their transition to the cloud. 2011 would be the year when the cloud story gains critical mass and starts its journey toward a ubiquitous existence.

Affordable automation The pay-per-use and pay-as-you-go model would be a great motivator for SMBs as they consider IT automation (for first time for many of them). Given the simplicity of deployment (zero/low initial investments); zero barriers to exit (if you don’t like it, you rip it and replace it without any sunk costs/ annual contracts); and the cool ROI factor, it is no wonder that SMBs are moving from consideration to crystallization this year. 32

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

Priority for enterprises The cloud is undoubtedly a key priority for enterprises as the recession pales into the background and IT investments are making a comeback, although cautiously. Most enterprise organizations are already defining the framework for outsourcing important business processes, consuming public cloud services, and taking the initial steps toward deploying private clouds by virtualizing their internal computing assets. In this context, the cloud helps to define a vision for how enterprise IT can meet the needs of the organization better. As cloud vendors begin to address security concerns, SLAs, data ownership, backup and real costs, CIOs have a large number of vendors to choose from. No one is complaining about the lack of choices. It all boils down to making the right decision, and therein lies the great dilemma.

Government role The classical technology adoption cycle has traditionally considered governments to be technology laggards—late in adopting emerging technologies—but that could well be inapplicable in the context of cloud adoption. It seems that cloud tech with its ‘compute any-ware, any-where’ philosophy and pervasive ability is tailor-made for the workings of the government juggernaut. Globally, governments are actively promoting cloud computing through the construction of various test-beds and the launch of multiple cloud service initiatives such as e-governance and cloud grids. Closer home, the muchpublicized Aadhaar (UIDAI) project could well give a major boost to cloud adoption in India. Cloud computing provides excellent prospects by way of offering the highest reach, massive scale and arguably the lowest cost

“2011 would see organizations taking the plunge into the cloud. Nearly 30 percent of Indian organizations will subscribe to at least two services” M Laxmi Narayan Rao

Marketing Director, Global Channel Programs, Jamcracker

for the government in serving its citizens better. Think how inter-connected citizen service centers (powered by cloud computing) would bring about a difference in making the lives of citizens better. Cloud computing could therefore well be termed as social or community computing.

Cloud service broker A new addition to the everexpanding IT dictionary is the term ‘cloud service broker’ (CSB) which is quickly becoming popular. A CSB is a type of service provider who plays an intermediary role in cloud computing. CSBs make it easier, safer and more productive for companies to navigate, integrate, consume, extend and maintain cloud services, particularly when they span multiple, diverse cloud service providers. The emergence of the CSB has provided a major impetus to nontraditional IT vendors such as telcos, BFSIs and the retail segment to make a charge for gaining a share of the opportunity. Telcos, with their lastmile advantage—broadband—have aggressive plans to take a major chunk of the IT pie and have been the first to challenge the traditional IT channels. So will it be a battle royale with the traditional IT channels taking on the nouveau IT-savvy channels? Time will paint the true picture. n

Clear Credible Competent Compassionate Consistent Communicative CRNCreative CRN â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the 8th C of Channel Marketing www.crn.in

Accept new business realities

major propellant for growth in 2010 in India was the government and public sector. These segments were always important, but last year they dominated the landscape with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts being awarded to various players. The other notable trend was a lot of interest and evangelism around service oriented architecture (SOA), cloud and virtualization. This led to changes within the industry as well. Large systems integrators who bid for the massive build-operate-transfer type of projects and run captive data centers became key drivers of the business ecosystem. Service providers who were hitherto focused only on international markets suddenly woke up to the party at home and scrambled to set up domestic operations. The value of solution architects and deal makers who could structure complex projects soared. Meanwhile, point-product sellers found themselves increasingly pushed to an unprofitable corner.

Trends of 2010 We saw three trends dominating the landscape. One, the concept of IT delivery moving from a capex model to opex is now well documented, and I don’t want to beat it to death anymore. Suffice to say that SOA is here to stay. As with all trends, there will be the early adopters as well as the nay-sayers. But this is not a trend that looks like the flavor of the season. Two, we saw the line blurring between various categories of individual identity, end user computing and telecom. With a rush of tablets running 3G, mobile phones running Android, various thin client options, and streaming content 34

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

and applications, it’s become increasingly difficult to predict what exactly qualifies as IT end usage. I believe this wave will deeply influence IT development and usage, though as industry specialists we sometimes like to focus on the enterprise and ignore what is happening in the retail space. The third trend which was born out of the pressures of 2008 (and meshed cleanly into the SOA trend) is the rising importance of various virtualization technologies. But that in itself is nothing new. What we need to recognize is that various customers have carried out their virtualization pilots and deployments, and are asking themselves, “Now what?” As consolidation gathers momentum through various virtualization waves, the next challenge is going to revolve around products and services which address this question. How can customers measure, manage and secure their virtual workloads? What policy frameworks and regulatory mechanisms will apply? Technologies which help answer questions like these should find their place in the sun.

Learnings for channels Warning bells are ringing and have been for some time. Most players engaged in reselling point-products have found their margins shrinking, and their ability to control accounts and opportunities limited as solution providers move in to take center stage with their customers. One thing is for sure. The next decade is going to bring in great times for some new players. It’s going to change the fortunes of some existing channel partners, and some players are going to fall by the wayside. We need to deeply introspect as to which category we are likely to fall into.

“Legal frameworks, geographical jurisdictions and issues such as security and policy frameworks in the era of cloud services are bound to pose complicated questions” Sandeep Menon Country Head, Novell India

Irrespective of where we are today, immediate steps need to be taken to set up practices around emerging trends. No one is saying that existing business lines need to be defocused, but we also need to realize that many of the old ways of doing business and the kind of people we employed may just not do anymore. So if we have not hired the right people who can add complex capabilities in service delivery, consulting and solution architecting, if we have not invested in setting up those practices and offerings, and if we are thinking we can just jump on when the wagon is picking up speed—we may be mistaken. As new architectures are deployed the IT industry will face new challenges that it will have to figure out how to handle quickly. Legal frameworks, geographical jurisdictions and issues such as security and policy frameworks in the era of cloud services are bound to pose complicated questions. Skills availability is likely to be another issue. Over the years our education and training systems have evolved to focus on existing industry structures, and most specialists are produced with deep expertise in one area. However, the industry is increasingly feeling the pinch for people who can put multiple things together effectively, and get them to work in the most optimal manner. n

THE BUSINESS VALUE OF TECHNOLOGY

www.informationweek.in InformationWeek the business technology marketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost multimedia brand is now in India. Visit www.informationweek.in for breaking news, latest technology news, blogs, proprietary research as well as analysis on IT trends, whitepapers, videos and interactive tools, all in a 24/7 environment. InformationWeek.in also delivers the updates via daily newsletters as well as via Twitter and Facebook.

http://www.twitter.com/iweekindia

Laying the foundation for the next decade

ear 2010 was a year when the BRIC nations lit the way through the darkness of global financial and political uncertainty. As the year ended, consumer and business confidence began to improve and cautious optimism crept across the globe resulting in a corresponding increase in spending. 2011 will be the year when confidence and optimism continue to build momentum, and large and small businesses invest for growth. This will be a multiyear investment cycle tempered by the lessons learnt during the worst global recession in our lifetime. With this in mind, here are our top three predictions for 2011.

M&A gathers steam Companies grown with cash from years of cost cutting will begin to put that money to work. They will seek growth through mergers and acquisitions to expand their reach into new markets, improve efficiencies, and offer new and enhanced products and solutions. Technology companies have been the leading example of this trend. We saw companies such as Google, Apple, Oracle and EMC gobble up large and small companies as they positioned themselves to power, leverage and monetize the mega trends in cloud services, mobile Internet and social networking.

IT spending thaws As most of us are aware, IT budgets were more or less frozen during the past few years, significantly limiting what IT managers could do. Every dollar, rupee or yen spent had to be justified. In general, only IT projects which protected the business or had a clear ROI were approved. These were the projects which kept the business humming in the event of disasters, increased business efficiency or improved employee 36

Computer Reseller News

15/01/2011 www.crn.in

productivity. Brilliant marketers captured the mood and the priorities of businesses during the recession with catchy slogans like ‘do more with less’ and ‘server consolidation’ as they sought to gain their share of the frozen IT budgets. 2011 will be the year when IT budgets thaw as businesses around the globe invest in IT for growth. Speed, agility and value will be important buying criteria as businesses seek to quickly integrate newly-acquired companies and assets, expand into new markets, and deliver new products and services. The technologies in high demand will be those which quickly integrate company, partner and customer ecosystems, personalize the user experience, and protect sensitive data while being agnostic to the lens through which we work, buy or play (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc).

Mindsets will shift While cost savings-driven server consolidation and virtualization will continue to be major themes in 2011, we will see an important shift as CEOs look at IT to help optimize the business for growth and profitability. Gone are the days when the only option to accommodate growth was to build a new data center or expand an existing data center. These huge outlays in capex and opex for servers, storage, network equipment, bandwidth, space, power and experts will be reconsidered as IT taps into the new options available: cloud services, network optimizing appliances, application delivery optimizing appliances and secure access control technologies. IT will leverage a growing set of public cloud services from IT infrastructure (IaaS) to applications (SaaS) to make better use of capital for non-core services. Security concerns, access

“2011 will be a defining year when consumer and business confidence will be restored, and when a solid foundation for growth will be laid for the decade ahead” Sunil Cherian

VP, Product Marketing, Array Networks

controls, performance and cost will determine the type and pace of cloud investments. Most enterprises will choose to build their own private clouds to retain control and security of core applications and services while reaping the benefits of flexibility, manageability and increased utilization of clouds. We expect that some of these enterprises will also deploy hybrid clouds to burst securely and seamlessly from private to public clouds to accommodate surges in demand and special projects. Regardless of the data center or cloud approaches used, all of these IT assets will have to be unified across the enterprise and made accessible to employees, partners and customers without compromising the user experience or the business. This is the role of network optimizing appliances, application delivery optimizing appliances and secure access control technologies. 2011 will be a defining year when consumer and business confidence will be restored, and when a solid foundation for growth will be laid for the decade ahead. It will also be the year when businesses tap the cloud, leverage network and application optimizing appliances, and ‘anywhere to anywhere’ secure access technologies to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, meet new challenges and deliver products and services which amaze their customers. n

MarketPlace_Machdata.qxp

11/30/2010

1:10 PM

Page 1

MarketPlace_Biz_Symantec_Sub.qxp

1/13/2011

C O M P U T E R R E S E L L E R N E W S NRLMNLOMNN w w w . c r n . i n

8:12 PM

Page 1

Back Page_Iomega.qxp

1/13/2011

4:59 PM

Page 1

RNI NO. MAH ENG/1999/635 Postal Reg. No. MH/MR/NORTH EAST/193/2010-2012 License to post without prepayment MR/TECH/WPP-23/NE/2010-12 Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai Due Date 2nd, 3rd & 16th, 17th Of Every Fortnight