Dataquest 35 Years: 2018 To Be The Golden Era Of Cloud In India

With cloud services becoming more mainstream for organizations even tier -2 and tier -3 cities, Brightstar is delving deep to deliver state-of-the-art solutions at affordable prices

According to a report by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the SME segment contributes 38% to India’s GDP. This is expected to rise to 46% - 48% by 2020 due to increasing internet penetration and greater uptake for digital by SMBs.

SMEs: Choosing the OPEX Path

With SMEs forming the backbone of the Indian economy, it is imperative for them to gradually adopt digital tools and cloud-based applications to compete against multinationals. As they do not have resources to match the capability of large counterparts, their urge for pay-per-use solutions will drive cloud adoption beyond the large cities.

Brightstar is one such company which wants to seize this opportunity by enabling SMEs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities with the right kind of solutions. Through its cloud services which are expected to be rolled out in the next few months, Brightstar plans to position its Cloud solutions that match SMEs’ OPEX model.

“2018 is going to be the golden era of cloud services in India, and it would become imperative for all kinds of businesses to progressively ride on the cloud. With widespread 4G availability, increasing fixed-line broadband, affordable connectivity and devices, the small and mid-sized companies are hugely going to benefit from the upcoming technologies,” says Deval Parikh, CEO, Brightstar India.

Delivering Cloud-Ready Endpoints

At present, the endpoint solutions are not designed keeping the cloud offerings in mind. This often forces organizations to buy high-end systems with full capex. Brightstar, which has more than 500 partners spread across the country and numerous partnerships with global brands, will bundle its cloud offerings with hardware/endpoints designed specifically to run on the cloud infrastructure. Hence,1) They need not buy high-end hardware and will have to invest in affordable thin-clients. As a result,2) Their total cost of ownership will be low which means they can utilize their precious capital on managing other expenses and handling their core business.

Cloud synergy with partners

In order to support its cloud business, Brightstar would rest its faith on its strong partner ecosystem – which is 500 plus strong in India. “Our cloud offerings will support resellers/partners, who are the backbone of our business. It will provide them more business opportunities,” adds Parikh.

For Brightstar, the cloud business will boost the existing business of its partners who will be able to go deeper in the market and work closely with SMEs. The overall impact of the cloud offerings will make partner life easier as there will be regular business flowing in.

Since Brightstar is one of the biggest distributors in India, it has the capability not only to support SMEs for their other IT needs but help them scale up as they grow.

The Growth Drivers for Cloud

With 4G availability already touching 82% (as per a report by OpenSignal), along with affordable internet and devices, this is the best time to equip SMEs with the cloud solutions that can trigger their growth. Further, the reach of optic fibre beyond metros is had also fueled the growth for the adoption of cloud services in the emerging cities.

“In fact, GST and demonetization have become triggering points for digitalization. SMEs do have the opportunity to embark upon the digital wave and become competent like their large peers,” opines Parikh.

Sensing the upcoming growth for cloud among SMEs, Brightstar is keen to deliver a service that matches the expectations of customers and freeing them of the worry of investing in expensive IT infrastructure as well as managing a team to support it.

By virtualizing hardware, cloud managed services can give SMEs a leading edge over their counterparts, helping them to scale up, achieve operational efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance customer experience.