Top Trends for 2011

B. Raghavendran,
Vice-President & Head - Partner Organization,
Cisco India & SAARC. 

One conclusion that can be derived from their opinions is that 2011 will be the year when recession will be a thing of the past. “In 2010, post the slowdown, markets were trying to get a firm foothold. In the New Year, we are sure the market will stabilize and there will be an emergence of new market demands. In short, we will definitely see a rise in demand in the forthcoming year,” says B. Raghavendran, Vice-President & Head - Partner Organization, Cisco India & SAARC. 

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 Subroto Das,
 COO,
 EMC India & SAARC

According to Subroto Das, COO, EMC India & SAARC, “The top technologies that enterprises will need to focus on in 2011 are Cloud Computing, Deduplication, Federation, Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) and Unified Storage. For CIOs working with tight budgets, all of these efficient technologies would be able to offer savings in terms of cost, infrastructure and management overhead, time and help reduce risk exposure by meeting compliance.” 

 Vipin Tuteja,
 xecutive Director,
 Marketing and International Business, Xerox India Ltd.

According to Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Marketing and International Business, Xerox India Ltd., “Businesses of all kinds continue to adopt green technologies which reduce costs and provide various environmental benefits. This trend will grow further in 2011, alongside increased use of business efficiency solutions and asset and infrastructure consolidation. We also expect businesses to develop more collaborative work environments which seek to optimize use of the cloud.”  

Below is the comprehensive rundown of the Top Trends in 2011:  

Cloud Computing

For some, the “cloud” is just the latest technological craze, but for others it is the future of computing, and it has already taken a centre stage in the technology world. What seems certain is that cloud computing has the potential to bring about irreversible changes in the way computers are used around the world. 

  
Rajiv Bhalla, 
Country Head- Sales And Marketing, 
NEC India

“The traditional technology adoption curve will take a backseat and pave the way for new and emerging technology platforms like Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing,” says Rajiv Bhalla, Country Head - Sales & Marketing, NEC India. 

Vikas Bhonsle,
GM, India Large Enterprise Operations,
Dell India
 

“We also anticipate this year will see tremendous momentum in the adoption of cloud technology in large and medium enterprises,” says Vikas Bhonsle, General Manager, India Large Enterprise operations, Dell India. Vikas believes that companies will take a hybrid approach to the cloud and keep their most critical applications onsite. 

Going by the recent trends, it seems that Cloud services are no longer the preserve of large organizations as SMEs are looking to this model to lower costs.  

 Rajeev Mittal,
 General Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises,
 Microsoft India

"It is a given that enterprises - irrespective of size - will embrace the cloud in the coming years.  Microsoft therefore will continue with its focus on cloud computing in 2011. Over the last few years Microsoft has been making huge investments  in this area, and today has a comprehensive set of solutions that allow customers to seamlessly transition from an 'only on premise' world, to one that envisages tailored mix of on line and offline technologies. This year will see some important launches in this direction. With a majority of small and medium businesses expected to choose cloud productivity solutions as their doorway to the cloud - Microsoft Office 365 - to be launched this year - will bring them their trusted Microsoft applications including Office, SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and others on the cloud in a single, always up-to-date cloud service for the first time" says Rajeev Mittal, General Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises, Microsoft India.

As a matter of fact, those who don't have manpower, equipment or experience to build out their IT offerings are prime customers for the cloud services.   

An increasing number of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India are getting to grips with cloud computing, thanks to its ability to cut costs and reduce the need for capital equipment - both hardware and software.   

The reason for growing adoption among the SMEs is not far to seek. The cloud services model with its contract-guaranteed levels of performance has the potential of offering a much more permanent solution to the cost-sensitive SME market. 

Storage

Surajit Sen,
Director-Channels,
Marketing and Alliances For NetApp India

Gone are the days when most SMBs had only a limited budget for capital IT purchases. So, they were not interested in buying storage solutions. Today, the market potential is unbelievably high. “Storage is foundational to business success, not tactical,” says Surajit Sen, Director - Channels, Marketing & Alliances for NetApp India. According to Surajit, “Object storage will be a hot discussion in 2011 with expanding enterprise deployments starting by 2012.” 

Storage is not a dead-end IT activity. SMBs are realizing they hav e a lot of important data and they cannot afford to lose it. As they store more data digitally, they have discovered that ad hoc processes are not enough. They are starting to look to VARs seeking advice. As a result, a number of resellers are adding storage to their array of products and services.  

VARs can show customers how Storage implementation is the need of the hour. Although SMEs have only a limited budget for capital IT purchases, they are badly in need of better storage solutions, and often they are well aware of it.  

 Manisha Sood,
 Country Manager, India & SAARC,
 SanDisk

“With the growing amount of digital data and increased need for mobility in our daily lives, the demand for portable storage devices has been continuously on the rise,” says Manisha Sood, Country Manager, India & SAARC, SanDisk.

However, getting customers to invest in storage can be a difficult proposition. When it comes to storage, a lot of small businesses don't want to spend money on it. The challenge before the VARs is to explain to them how important a robust solution is. The key difference in storage adoption among SMEs from large enterprises is that the latter have issues of scalability, headroom and interoperability, whereas SMEs look for easy, reliable and robust solutions to meet their existing needs - partners need to address these needs most efficiently by understanding a customer's point of view closely.  

They see a big growth opportunity. The technologies have become cheaper. The demand is meeting the supply, and the VARs have the opportunity to be right in the middle, because there is no one else who could educate these customers.  

As with any major technology sale, SMBs need a lot of guidance when it comes to choosing a storage solution.  

Small businesses are generating a large amount of data in the day-to-day operations. But what if they lose that data? The importance of data can be gauged from the fact that according to the reports by various research firms, 70 per cent of the small businesses that experience a catastrophic data loss go out of business within one year. Ensuring that the information in a datacenter is secure and being accessed only by those authorized has become a top concern for all datacenters - large and small. The availability and authentication of data to massive corporates and government databases to the millions of people who use mobile web is a key priority.   

Unified Communications

It can be said without doubt that communications technology has become mandatory in today's business environment because it works as a lifeline between business and its customers, vendors and partners. 

With the expansion of Unified Communications from the enterprise space into mid-level and smaller organizations, a growing number of SMEs are gradually exploring how Unified Communications has the potential of increasing efficiency, productivity and sales. 

The advent of Unified Communications some five years ago received not-so-enthusiastic reception in the market. Enterprises had already made large investments in existing infrastructure and early solutions did not have the depth of functionality. However, with the passage of time, the UC began to mature because an increasing number of enterprises began to switch to Unified Communications to reduce operating costs and improve business processes. While IP telephony remains the dominant driver, new technologies such as telepresence and unified messaging are gaining momentum. 

Unified communications involves integration of different tools and applications used within an enterprise and with external partners for business communications. By the use of UC applications, enterprise user productivity is improved. It enhances collaboration by integrating and converging various enterprise communication channels. 

Unified communications is generally attributed to a set of products that integrate real-time communication services such as IP telephony, video conferencing, chats, etc. with non-real-time communication services like e-mail, SMS, voicemail, fax, etc., providing a synchronized, user-friendly interface. 

Avinash Purwar,
Senior Vice-President, Borderless Network,
Cisco

“ Usage of collaboration technologies is moving from intra-company to inter-company, creating a safe and secure channel for companies that work together to communicate effectively with each other,” says Avinash Purwar, Senior Vice-President, Borderless Network, Cisco.  “The architecture supporting this shift is based on the network, and it is no longer about standalone applications like smart applications or videoconferencing, but rather how effectively it is able to integrate all these, towards a seamless collaboration experience,” says Avinash. 

Security

It was joie de vivre for the cyber-villains till now of 2010. Both large corporations and small companies bore the brunt of cyber break-ins. The year 2011 promises to be no different. On the contrary, security experts are of the view that such threats may worsen. 

As the danger of threats is becoming more complex and innovation looms large with each passing year, the need for a sophisticated and simple security system is increasingly being felt across the world in an effort to stay a step ahead. 

Clarence Phua,
Director,
Sales for ASEAN & India, Sophos

Privacy threats are set to dominate the security landscape in 2011. More than ever, data is the ultimate business asset. “With the sophistication of modern cybercriminal gangs, business reputations are only as strong as the processes, precautions and protective solutions in place to guard company and customer data,” says Sophos. 

Spyware and malware designed to steal data will gain greater prominence as they perpetrate across platforms. 

Virtualization

Virtualization technologies are enabling businesses to treat all IT resources as a set of shared services that can be combined and recombined to improve efficiencies and scale quickly. At the heart of EMC's transition to the private cloud is virtualization, and EMC IT's approach to virtualize all elements of a datacenter: systems, storage, network, security, monitoring and management, application stack, and even the desktop. 

Overall IT Market

Business is coming back. In the beginning of this year majority of the companies were stabilizing from recession, but the Indian information technology sector continues to be one of the sunshine sectors of the Indian economy showing rapid growth and promise. The year 2011 is expected to be the year when business revenues and market share will return or exceed levels. 

“2010 has been a tremendous year for Epson and we hope to continue this phenomenal growth in the coming year,” says Epson. 

2011 will feel much like 2010. “We'll see the same economic conditions (low rates, high unemployment, long-term uncertainty) and the same major IT themes,” says Surajit.  The tech refresh will continue to drive business. The next year will be a year of solidification and increased adoption of some key trends that began in 2009/2010. 

Mahesh Bhalla,
GM, Consumer Business,
Dell India 

According to Mahesh Bhalla, General Manager, Consumer Business, Dell India, “The economy is definitely turning around since the recession that hit us some time back, but it still continues to be challenging. However, businesses are finding they can no longer postpone technology updates. It is this trend that we see is carrying on in the year ahead. While concerns like business continuity, data protection and RoI remain, customers are definitely looking to make investments. But what is imperative is how we help our customers leverage key technology trends.” 

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Cloud computing

It is now crystal clear that cloud computing is not only here to stay - it is also creating a shift in the competitive landscape. Combining SaaS, hosted mails, virtualization, and even on-premise cloud systems mean several ways for customers to offload more and more technology. Cloud components currently reach every area of business.  

Cloud Computing has become the preferred mechanism for organizations to better leverage the power of technology. Rather than contending with the endless hassles and increasing costs historically associated with traditional, on-premise, hardware and software products, today's cloud computing solutions enable organizations to more quickly and cost-effectively harness technology to achieve their business objectives. 

Unified Communications/VoIP

A great deal of the popular phone systems were designed before the advent of Internet and Voice over IP (VoIP) matured. As the older system needs to be replaced, the first choice of the resellers and their clients is VoIP. Internet-enabled phone system may finally make Unified Communications a reality we have been promised for years. 

Security

The bad guys won't stop, and neither will those trying to protect us. Large companies will focus on refresh only, but smaller companies face increasing regulations and will be forced to upgrade. While the battle rages on, security tools and experts are becoming more affordable. 

Storage

We never had enough storage, and that trend will continue. Look for the 2TB SATA drive to rule the market and cloud to rearrange, but not reduce, many current storage plans. 

Overall IT Market

It is recovering and trending upwards. Resellers report pipelines are filling up and customers are asking about new projects. Business is not yet booming but signs are encouraging.  

For more contact: Deepak singh
edit@varindia.com