Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Indian organizations have become more data driven in terms of their decision making; thereby leading to the growing use of cloud technology to make optimal utilization of insights from data. Globally, the value of the SaaS market, is expected to grow to USD 400 billion by 2025 while the data center industry is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 17.4% during Fiscals 2020 to 2025 led by increased adoption of co-location services, aiding in the improvement of occupancy rates of data center facilities by Fiscal 2025. ESDS intends to capitalize on such growth projections and opportunities by scaling its operations and by increasing the focus on (a) mid-market enterprise customers by offering integrated cloud solutions, (b) hybrid cloud business models, (c) scale across international markets, which have technology adoption trends similar to India, (d) introduce new as well as enhance existing SaaS solutions for the accelerated digital transformation of customers’ businesses, and (e) exploring setting up new data centers in India. Mr. Piyush Somani (Managing Director and Chairman ESDS Software Solution Ltd). share more insights on the same.
What are your thoughts on Cloud 3.0 and its impact on the industry?
After the buzz of Industry 4.0 and Web 3.0, the next big buzzword making headlines in the technological industry is Cloud 3.0. If this new version of the cloud creates a sense of curiosity, then let’s understand this new avatar of Cloud Computing. Developers can create High Availability (HA) and Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) systems with Cloud 3.0 by breaking the software into small, loosely coupled pieces known as microservices. Libraries of code no longer exist in Cloud 3.0. Developers instead use web services, which are code libraries with the infrastructure needed to compute and store data. Cloud providers set up application-aware workload management systems, utilise Machine Learning (ML) to scale infrastructure as required, and directly compute and storage requests to specialized hardware to support these web services. Cloud 3.0 already exists in embryonic form; it is not a futurist prediction. Industries with considerable computing needs, such as the finance and life sciences, are vulnerable to disruption. Organizations can concentrate their resources on domain specialists who can plan and direct supervised and unsupervised artificial intelligence on extensive data by using Cloud 3.0 technology to build apps more quickly and inexpensively. I believe that this change in development patterns offers a substantial window of opportunity for disruptive innovation that radically alters the competitive environment.
How is the Data Center industry growing in India? What is your company planning to drive the Data Center demand in India?
The global rate of digital transformation has accelerated during the past two years. One of the catalysts in the process has been the data center industry. The business community has noted that technology now makes remote work, online learning, e-commerce, and the rising popularity of online gaming and video streaming services all possible. I believe that these changes are not passing trends; they are long-term shifts that call for equivalent changes throughout the data center infrastructure. We at ESDS intend to capitalise on such growth projections and opportunities by scaling our operations and by increasing our focus on mid-market enterprise customers by offering integrated solutions, scale across international markets, which have technology adoption trends similar to India, and introduce new as well as enhance existing solutions for the accelerated digital transformation of customers’ businesses. Further, we believe that due to value drivers such as customizability, control and autonomy, and inter-operability, we could retain and improve our market share while competing with hyperscalers. Consequently, in order to capitalise on such opportunities, we are exploring setting up new data centers in India.
How do you establish strong cloud governance? Thoughts on implementation of cloud and AI integration.
I believe that disregarding security is one of the worst errors you can make. This is especially concerning considering that most cloud settings include several connected devices and tool integrations. The surface area that is vulnerable to attack vectors grows as a result. Therefore, a crucial governance strategy for maintaining an effective and safe cloud ecosystem is preventing security incidents. Organizations may utilize various techniques when doing this, including DevSecOps, Security as code model, and many more. ESDS ensures that back-up of data is replicated across data centers. The eNlight Cloud adheres to international security standards and follows the concept of layered security to provide high level of data protection over hypervisor platforms. Further, ESDS was the first company in India to introduce cloud computing, through the introduction of its in-house developed eNlight Cloud. ESDS was one of the first companies in India to provide the vertical scaling facility to its customers ESDS’ public cloud “eNlight” is based on a technology that we developed inhouse and is patented in the UK and the United States of America..
How are you managing to avoid security breach issues for clients since your company is a SaaS provider?
Regarding security management for SaaS services, some of the major factors that ensure better protection include a well-curated and structured identity access management, Continuous vulnerability assessment. This proper security checklist is custom made for every client and provides all the mandatory compliances.
What is your learning from doing business during the pandemic and how that has helped your organisation?
The cloud services market in India was undergoing a cloud transition phase, which got accelerated by the perpetuation of the pandemic in 2020. The third wave of IT adoption led by cloud computing has allowed firms to transform backend operations, resulting in an enhanced value proposition of customers. In India, the industry has gained momentum with over 200 data centers. The global SaaS market is expected to grow multifold in the next few years owing to increased awareness among enterprise of its usage, advancement in technologies etc. The increase in smart phone users and wireless subscribers indicate the deep penetration of digital technology, enabling firms to shift from traditional offering modes to ‘digital’ means. The pandemic of COVID- 19 has further propelled data consumption (12 GB per user in December 2020), with the working class adapting to a ‘Work from Home’ culture, students enrolling in online courses & tutorials, and e-governance initiatives of government (e-Aadhar, digital KYC, Digi Locker, Aarogya Setu, CoWin, etc.). It is expected that the data center industry would grow at a CAGR of 17.4% during Fiscal 2020 to 2025, led by increased adoption of co-location services, aiding in the improvement of occupancy rates of data center facilities by Fiscal 2025. We are amongst India’s leading managed cloud service and end-to-end multi-cloud requirements providers. We have built a comprehensive cloud platform that our customers rely on, consisting of cloud infrastructure and well-architected solutions aimed at reducing cost and providing safety, flexibility, scalability, and reliability to enterprises compared with the traditional on-premise IT models.
What are the current trends as seen in IT Infrastructure services?
No one will be surprised by the following developments in the IT sector, although their rapid pace and the extent of their influence may surprise you. Consumption of everything from software to hardware “as a service.” Consumption-based pricing models are becoming increasingly popular among enterprise purchasers; this trend began with software and has now spread to hardware. This transition from the capital to operational spending lowers risk, frees up capital, and increases flexibility. The switch to as-a-service models is startling, especially considering that a unit of computing/storage in the cloud, I believe is less expensive in terms of the total cost of ownership than a unit on premises. Cybersecurity remains the primary concern. Cybersecurity is still a pinnacle C-suite and board-degree priority. Across all industries, assaults are developing in range and complexity, with eighty percent of era executives reporting that their corporations are suffering from mounting a stable defense. Many corporations can’t recruit the inner skills wished due to the scarcity of cybersecurity experts, mainly spending money on controlled protection services. Cloud-primarily based protection services are also becoming more appealing to corporations, with McKinsey estimating that they may include 60 percent of protection merchandise with the aid of using 2020, up from 10 percent in 2015.
What insights would you like to share on the 4.0 industrial revolution and where does the cloud industry stand in it?
Manufacturers have been gathering and storing data to enhance their processes for many years. The bulk of the created data has grown significantly due to the digital revolution in the last ten years, making it impossible to handle all of this data effectively by hand. Consequently, they want an infrastructure that can take data management for them. Cloud computing, a complementary technology, has simultaneously seen tremendous IT industry growth. The user can remotely store and process a significant amount of data through a cloud computing platform. The information is now kept in the “cloud” and is available over the internet. Therefore, there is no longer a requirement for computing infrastructure to use the computing resources. The critical thing to remember in this situation is that cloud computing is not a stand-alone answer for implementing Industry 4.0. It is a robust tool that anyone can use to access the enormous computational power required to build contemporary scanning solutions. Scalable processing and storage resources are available through cloud computing. Businesses can use big data analytics to collect and utilise business intelligence. It aids in the consolidation and streamlining of their industrial and commercial operations.
What are your expansion plans?
We intend to capitalise on the growth of the cloud market and demand for data centers in India as well as in the international markets. The demand for cloud services and data center increases with the rising amount of data generated by the customers of business. The Indian cloud service market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of ~31% during Fiscals 2020 to 2025, primarily driven by Government support, positive investment climate, growing interest among the digital enterprise, rising internet penetration, and other factors. Globally, the value of the SaaS market was estimated to be approximately USD 100 billion in 2020, and is expected to grow to USD 400 billion by 2025, while the data center industry is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 17.4% during Fiscals 2020 to 2025 led by increased adoption of co-location services, aiding in the improvement of occupancy rates of data center facilities by Fiscal 2025.
Further, the cloud industry in India is witnessing a surge in adoption by various industry verticals, such as the government sector, manufacturing industry, IT industry, and others. The Government of India is embracing cloud computing technology to expand its e-governance initiatives throughout the country. With an increasing number of IT companies and internet service providers (ISPs) in India, the cloud IaaS model is helping SMEs to have access to the latest infrastructure, thus reducing their in-house infrastructure costs. We intend to capitalise on such growth projections and opportunities by scaling our operations and by increasing our focus on (a) mid-market enterprise customers by offering integrated cloud solutions, (b) hybrid cloud business models, (c) scale across international markets, which have technology adoption trends similar to India, and (d) introduce new as well as enhance existing SaaS solutions for the accelerated digital transformation of customers’ businesses. Further, we believe that due to value drivers such as customizability, control and autonomy, and inter-operability, we would be able to retain and improve our market share while competing with hyperscalers.
