Top IT Honchos and Upcountry Market Partners come together at 6th OITF to discuss critical issues

(L to R) Mr. Arun Kumar Dey, President- ITAO, Mr. Manoj Khadkikar, Head of Channel Solutions- Zicom Electronics, Mr. Sujoy Kr. Basu, Country Manager – Operations, Consumer Printing-HP PPS CSS India, Mr. A K Sahoo, CEO- OZONE Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mr. B Hari, President- CIITA( Moderator), Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher, VAR INDIA, Hon'ble Minister Shri. Surya Narayan Patro, Minister of Revenue & Disaster management, Govt. of Odisha, Mr. A. K. Mohanty, M.D- Tatwa Tecnologies, Prof. A. K. Mahapatra, Director- AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar , Mr. Nishant Verma, Country Manager – Win Magic, Mr. Sushan Aich, Cloud Solutions Sales Lead, Microsoft Corporation and Mr. Neeraj Sharma, Marketing Manager - OIS, CANON India

Reprising its role of serving the regional channel community and taking forward the legacy of contributing immensely towards the country, VARINDIA recently concluded its 6th edition of Odisha Information Technology Fair (OITF) – 2014 on 28th January, 2014 at Hotel Mayfair, Bhubaneswar. The event was attended by around 200 CXOs from the corporate world (large and small companies in Odisha) where the IT industry showcased various solutions and technologies. The invitees to the event included IT honchos, industry leaders, VARs and senior officials from the healthcare and education sectors.

Shri Surya Narayan Patro,
Minister of Revenue & Disaster Management,
Government of Odisha

The Chief Guest for the evening was Shri Surya Narayan Patro, Minister of Revenue & Disaster Management, Government of Odisha. Other guests who graced the occasion were Prof. Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, Director, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar; Dr B. K. Ray, Registrar, IIT, Bhubaneswar; Shri Manash Ranjan Panda, Addl. Director, STPI, Government of India; Mr Aditya Mohapatra, OSD, OCAC; Mr A. K. Sahoo, CEO, Ozone Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Mr B. Hari, President, CIITA; Mr A. K. Mohanty, Managing Director, Tatwa Technologies;  Mr Arun Kumar Dey, President, ITAO; Mr Sushan Aich, Cloud Solutions Sales Lead, Microsoft Corporation; Mr Neeraj Sharma, Marketing Manager – OIS, Canon India; Mr Manoj Khadkikar, Head of Channel Solutions, Zicom Electronics; Mr Nishant Verma, Country Manager, Win Magic; and Mr Sujoy Kr. Basu, Country Manager – Operations, Consumer Printing, HP PPS CSS India.

Deepak Sahu, Publisher, VARINDIA, while welcoming the Chief Guest, the Guest of Honour and other esteemed guests, made a special mention in his speech of the new ICT Policy of 2014 and about the e-commerce industry that has heightened interests in the sector and increased internet usage amongst average Indians. He also talked about the upcoming VARINDIA Brand Book that has created ripples in the industry in the last two years and the concluding of the 4th VARINDIA Cup cricket tournament. 

Hon’ble Shri Surya Narayan Patro, Minister of Revenue & Disaster Management, Government of Odisha, spoke about how he and his colleagues were able to rise to the challenge posed by the Phailin disaster that had struck the state of Odisha recently. He shared his views on the steps taken by the Central and State Governments to handle Phailin, which was praised not only in the country, but also globally. He also stated how electoral governance has become a norm for many State governments and the Central government and this, in turn, is giving rise to myriad opportunities for vendors to take active participation in the space. 

Prof. A. K. Mahapatra,
Director, AIIMS,
Bhubaneswar

In his inaugural address, Prof. A. K. Mahapatra, Director, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, spoke about technology modernization and infrastructure development inside the AIIMS campus. He also encouraged local entrepreneurs to come out with the latest technology and help the growth process. “The need for ICT or IT for human beings can never be overlooked. In every sphere of life, we have been dependent on technology. When I look back today, I remember the first tele- conference we had in 1984 for which we were required to go to the Telecommunication office since we did not have that facility in our office. I experienced the computer for the first time in 1986 in London. 30 years later, we see tremendous growth happening in the IT space in India in different sectors. The first computers brought to India by Rajiv Gandhi have metamorphosed today into a million dollar industry.”

In the second session of OITF’14, various corporates including Microsoft, Canon and Zicom spoke about the importance of technology and solutions, emerging opportunities in software solutions, Document Management Solutions and Security as a Service.

Arif Ahmed Khan,
Marketing Manager – OIS,
Canon India

Through his presentation, Arif Ahmed Khan, Marketing Manager – OIS, Canon India, discussed about the present Office Imaging industry, various landmarks and advancements happening in the printing domain – the transformation from analogue to digital printing technology, the coming up of standalone products and so on. He cited the various researches carried out that a complete paperless environment cannot be envisaged and companies continue to incur document costs. 

Sushan Aich,
Cloud Solutions Sales Lead,
Microsoft Corporation

Sushan Aich, Cloud Solutions Sales Lead, Microsoft Corporation, in his presentation, talked about how Microsoft as a company has been able to add value to its customer offerings that have, in turn, empowered people to do more from anywhere in the world, without losing productivity and profitability. He spoke in detail about Office 365 for small- and mid-sized business and its many advantages, besides sharing the roadmap that Microsoft has in mind to achieve by 2022. 

Manoj Khadikikar,
Head – Channel Solutions,
Zicom Electronics

Manoj Khadikikar, Head – Channel Solutions, Zicom Electronics, in his address, briefed the audience about what Zicom is and its services catering to the security and surveillance industry. He also by means of his presentation talked about the first projects Zicom has earned, some important customers it has been serving through reference and relationships and the different solution offerings.
 

Brahmananda Rath,
Sr. Advisor, State e-Governance Mission Team,
DIT, Odisha

Brahmananda Rath, Sr. Advisor, State e-Governance Mission Team, DIT, Odisha, spoke at length about the latest ICT policy formulated for 2014. He highlighted the objectives charted out by the IT Ministry of the Government of Odisha to be achieved by 2020 – of seeking to achieve gross ICT turnover including exports of software and IT services of Rs.24,000 crore by 2020, besides defining the ways by which to get the ICT policy implemented.

The third session of the event was the Panel Discussion, which was moderated by B. Hari, President, CIITA. The theme of the Panel Discussion was "Innovative Business for Emerging Opportunities". The Panellists who participated in the discussion representing the VAR community, IT industry, IT Association and CEOs of various companies from India and abroad are Arun Kumar Dey, President, ITAO; A. K. Sahoo, CEO, Ozone Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; B. Hari, President, CIITA; Manoj Khadkikar, Head of Channel Solutions, Zicom Electronics; Sushan Aich, Cloud Solutions Sales Lead, Microsoft Corporation; Neeraj Sharma, Marketing Manager – OIS, Canon India; and Nishant Verma, Country Manager, Win Magic.

Towards the end of the event, the regional VARs from Odisha were awarded in different categories of Best VAR, Best Partner for Software Services, Best Network Integrator, Best Reseller, Best System Integrator and Best Partner for Service Support.