Customers prefer subscription-based ICT services: Kamal Nath, Sify

By Nandita Singh

The customer expects an ICT infrastructure service delivery model built around the philosophy of less hardware, less license & less people, says Kamal Nath, CEO, Sify in an interview with Voice&Data. Excerpts.

Voice&Data: What are some of the notable changing needs and expectations of enterprises when making ICT purchase decisions, and how are you responding to those needs?

Kamal Nath: In the background of the converging forces of Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) which is driving the emergence of third platform, there is an increasing trend of customers preferring “subscription” based ICT services as against “building” of ICT infrastructure. With the changing role of CIOs from managing IT to being business enablers they tend to prefer a model which would provide them more visibility vis-a-vis the earlier model of “control”. The customer expects an ICT infrastructure service delivery model built around the philosophy of less hardware, less license & less people.

Sify has 15+ years of DNA and experience of providing ICT services based on the above principles and philosophy. Almost all our offerings are subscription based and every service we provide is productized making it easy for enterprises to implement and adopt.

Voice&Data: What new opportunities and challenges do you see presented (for enterprises) by programs like Make in India and Digital India? How should that, in your view, shape the ICT buying decisions of enterprises?

Kamal Nath: The Make in India and Digital India drive is a huge opportunity and motivation for enterprises to expedite their own transformation into a Digital Enterprise. The enterprises while taking new ICT purchase decisions, be it greenfield, expansion or transformation need to evaluate and adopt the emerging trends of cloud and mobility.

The challenge before enterprise is their ability to shift from the legacy model to the digital model with minimum disruption to their current business and at the same time exploiting the huge opportunities in the digital market place.

Voice&Data: What are the key technology trends? How mature are the various “digital” themes of social, mobility, analytics and cloud now for the consumption of enterprises?

Kamal Nath: The key technology trends driving the new ICT services delivery models are:

• Converged infrastructure (packaging multiple IT components into a single optimized computing solution)
• Software defined everything (which accelerates infrastructure deployment, centralizes the management of IT resources, increases resource utilization levels at a lower cost).

Enterprises are fast adopting the digital themes of Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud very successfully particularly the new age and start-up enterprises. By following the social media application framework, the new age business applications are also built around the theme of collaboration and not just access of data and information. The usage of smart mobile devices backed up by faster mobile access technologies are fast outpacing the use of desktops and laptops forcing application providers to relook at the way their products are designed. Mobile devices have broken the boundary of the so-called office.

The ever-evolving digital model is providing a significant opportunity for small and medium enterprises to compete with their bigger competitors.

Voice&Data: Considering the disruptions posed to businesses due to rapid digitization of the marketplaces, how do you work with enterprises to future-proof their ICT investments?

Kamal Nath: Our ICT service delivery model which is based on zero capex, no technology obsolesce, high scalability options provide a secured model to enterprises to compete in a disruptive business environment in the digital market place.

Voice&Data: For enterprises, how good is a pay-as-you-go model versus the more traditional models like license-based? Should it be a combination of two? How should be an ideal mix?

Kamal Nath: The pay-as-you-go model provides head room for enterprises to optimize their investments and scale-up as their business grows. The reason the enterprises still use license-based model is simply because their current application provider is not offering them a pay-as-you-go model. The good news is almost all new age application providers are offering pay-as-you-go model and they are replacing the traditional providers.

Voice&Data: What key considerations should today’s enterprise ICT buyers make to ensure they are investing in the right technologies, products or services?

Kamal Nath: The ICT buyers should evaluate providers who are committed to the emerging trends by means of providing ICT subscription-based services built on the principles of lower cost, higher agility, faster scalability and security with bundled services of management and visibility. The technology companies are collaborating with these new age providers to bring the benefits of the emerging technology trends, which would help enterprises to build their future proof digital platform.