WIITF 2026: Reiterating the role of VARs in shaping the future of India’s Technology landscape

VARINDIA once again strengthened its position as a leading platform for knowledge exchange, innovation, and networking within Western India’s IT ecosystem with the successful hosting of the 16th edition of the Western India Information Technology Fair (WIITF), 2026. The VAR summit emerged as a dynamic forum for collaboration, insights, and inspiration, energizing the tech community and fostering industry growth.

The evening began with a warm welcome for guests and participants, underscoring the importance of collaboration and partnerships in the technology sector. Built around the theme, “Evolving BFSI Landscape,” the summit provided a platform to explore the latest trends and innovations in IT. It also celebrated the contributions of VARs in India’s ICT industry, recognizing their pivotal role in shaping the future of technology.

The summit began with the ceremonial lamp lighting, marking an auspicious start before the corporate presentations. The revered guests who graced the event included distinguished names like Abhay Mishra, Distribution Accounts Manager – Acronis; Sushil Kumar Patil, Accleration Solutions Engineer- Riverbed; Priyanka Arora, Solution Sales Lead – Microsoft; Dr. Arindam Sarkar, Chief Architect - FaceOff Technologies and Dr Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor – VARINDIA.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Editor-in-Chief, VARINDIA in which he highlighted the fact that India stands at a critical moment in its technology journey today, with the country building a $250 billion IT industry and becoming a global leader in software services. However, its domestic IT spending accounts for only about 1% of global technology investments. He further cited that bridging this gap will be essential if India wants to play a leading role in the emerging AI-driven economy.

The corporate presentations for the evening commenced with an insightful address by Abhay Mishra, Distribution Accounts Manager – Acronis, who spoke about data availability and integrity. With strong expertise in cybersecurity, data protection, and channel development, he spoke about

The next speaker, Sushil Kumar Patil, Accleration Solutions Engineer- Riverbed presented his valuable perspectives on how Riverbed views technology and innovation, while also elucidating the company’s market growth.

Priyanka Arora, Solution Sales Lead- Microsoft was the next presenter. She emphasized the growing menace of cybercrime, noting that cyber-attacks have grown 5x and with a projected annual cost of $10.5 trillion, cyber-crime could become the third largest economy.

Dr. Arindam Sarkar, Chief Architect- FaceOff Technologies in his presentation specifically talked about how neuro-AI, quantum-safe cryptography, and cognitive security have become the need of the hour.

The event featured an insightful Panel Discussion Session moderated by Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Editor-in-Chief - VARINDIA. The panelists who joined the session were Dr. Pawan Chawla, CISO & DPPO- Tata AIA Life Insurance; Sarita Padmini, Sr. Director - Protiviti India Member Firm; Priyanka Arora, Solution Sales Lead- Microsoft; Dr. Puneet Kaur Kohli, CTIO - Generali Central Life Insurance and Bhaskar Rao, CISO - The Bharat Co-operative Bank.

The summit concluded with a vote of thanks to express gratitude to all the participants, sponsors, and attendees for their valuable contributions.