On Cloud In Vogue

Agree? I guess most of you do. Fortunately, it is way simpler than it looks. More often than not a change is reactive predominantly stemming from compelling systemic forces but definitely requiring lost of energy to get over the inertia to make it a habit. “Cloud Solution” is one such innovation which it seems has the potential to be the thing for next gen but surely needs good amount of ground work to be done before it catches the eye. 

Why Cloud

Last couple of years saw the business scenario shift from a seller’s paradise to the buyer’s arena bringing in the pressing need to optimize resource exploitation. Though this can be intuitively thought of as “The Need” for going the cloud way, by no means this is only driver. After much discussion with entrepreneurs, friends & decision makers, and the old & wise in the market, five prominent drivers which I could construe as the steam behind the cloud would be the following;

• Increasing Cap-ex: Spiraling IT infrastructure setup and operation cost with growth is the major crippling factor in setting up an IT infrastructure. With this model in place, seemingly end-users will be able to completely eradicate the initial heavy investment on hardware and will also be able to avail the software services like any other subscription service.
• Efficiency: Despite having invested heavily in creating the infrastructure, the infrastructure is un-utilized for more than 50% of its capacity. Improved efficiency without having to worry about creating new infrastructures for each new application is one such brilliant opportunity which makes this service a formidable offering.
• Agility: Agility is one factor in the industry these days which differentiates between the leaders and the second best. The service provides the much necessary wherewithal to compete better in the market to the small and medium enterprise.
• Demand for Storage & Management: Ever increasing demand for data storage and management is yet another challenge, as it diverts the much necessary capital towards non-core investments.
• Operation and Maintenance challenges: Along with the infrastructure comes the much necessary cost of maintaining and keeping it up-to-date. This not only requires competent dedicated manpower but also valuable working capital. The initiatives not only promises “pay-as-you-use” services but also reduces multi-skilled manpower requirement.

The Target Market:

If we are to believe Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft, India will not only see a surge in cloud computing but also become the service hub of cloud computing for the world. Only time will disclose its potency, but as of now both global and Indian harbingers are considering the mammoth Indian SMB sector as the potential market which can make or break the rules of IT industry in India. While trying to understand the contribution of SME to the Indian GDP, varied results surface, primarily because of the difference in definition assumed. But the one factor which remains unchanged is its huge potential. Assuming Zinnovs research study as the base, we have about 60% of the GDP coming from the SME, which is close to $650bn, and the contribution is set to increase over the period.
Gartner believes that the overall cloud computing business in India will touch $One billion mark by 2014. As per Springboard research, Indian SaaS market is already the fastest growing market in Asia-Pac with 60% CAGR and will clock about $350mn by 2012. As per Gartner, about 90% of the Indian market is now covered by SaaS and the remaining 10% by IaaS and PaaS.
Having (to some extent) understood the model, the end users are a bit skeptical due to lack of complete understanding. Adding to the haze is the concern of data security, supply chain and modus operandi. One of the key concerns which i could understand from some of my friend entrepreneurs is “what if due to some reason the service gets terminated?” End users need to have a parallel data storage facility in place to mitigate the risk of having its entire critical data on cloud. Literally the user has a noose around its neck.

The Indian Cloud market SWOT:

The SWOT analysis of the Indian cloud market reflects a pretty attractive pursuit, albeit with some very sincere caveats. Though these threats may sound big hurdles at this juncture, the model intrinsically has the capability to address and overcome them successfully.

Strength
• Converts IT Capex to Opex

• Pay as use model

• Scalability

Weakness
• Model Nascence

• Still a hazy concept

• No All in One solution

Opportunity
• Largest SME sector

• ~$1.08bn market by 2015

• 60% CAGR of SaaS from 2008/12

Threat
• Data Security

• Lack of control on data

• Skepticism over service guarantee

My Opinion
I personally feel that lack of awareness,threat of data security and service guarantee will hold the initial rush in India. However, once these problems are taken careof, it has every possibility to be a revolutionary solution not only for the small and medium but also large enterprise as well. Hopefully in the next few years, as domestic service providers master the business model, the market will educate itself to reap the most from cloud. Till that time, happy learning to all of us...

The Corbett Rendezvous:

“Destinations do not make a tour, companions do”... Few weeks back, four of us made a trip to Jim Corbett (JC). Why JC, no rational explanation, just happened, and of course initiated by Chiru and Mathur. To begin with many thanks to Lakhu and Chiru (my ex-roomies) to take the time out to fly all the way to delhi for the trip, and to Mathur for suggesting JC. Honestly, it was Mathur who made the trip for the rest of us, it takes guts to be pulled 24x7 for three consecutive days, you’r endearing Mathur.

L to R, Lakhu, Mathur, Chiru on our way to jungle trekking....

Coming back to the trip, If you are thinking to visit JC for tigers and wild animals, scrap it straight away. If your are planning to just hang around over the weekend on a riverside, may be yes. JC is about  250 odd kilometers from Delhi and the drive is quite comfortable except for few kilometers from Moradabad Bypass to Kashipur. Stay at JC is quite ok, depending upon where you plan to stay. For begineers, you will not be able to sight a tiger in a 3 hour safari, If you are lucky, you may be able to site a bull elephants and that will be intimidating enough for rest of the trip. You may find some Cheetal’s (kind of deer) and that’s it.  

For JC, there are few do’s and don’ts I would like to share;

Do’s

a)      Carry cash, your debit/credit card may not be of great help

b)      Carry your own booze….

c)       Start early from Delhi and beat the rush.

d)      The place around JC is quite diluted now, with loud music and chaos. The place is quite oversold.

e)      Go for full day safari, not the 3 hour one. Its entire waste of money

f)       Keep your camera always ready, you never know..

Don’ts

a)      You will not be able to find any wild animal in a short 3 hour jeep safari. The jungle is too dense and everyone will oversell you the tiger thing. If you are enthusiastic enough have a 12 hour safari try it.  

b)      Do not plan your trip between mid August to mid October. These are rainy seasons and the entry gates are closed.

c)       Never shout or make unnecessary noise in any jungle..

Key Activities..

a) Safari @ corbett.

b) Stay inside the park, for this you have to book well in advance

c) Fun activities like crawling, boating, rock climbing, cycling etc..

   River swimming etc..

Besides these, this place has quite a rusty feeling, which should be for any animal park, since it’s all about experiencing the nature. For us the best part was monkey crawling, rappelling, and rock climbing and the entire day in the river ( i am not sharing those pic...). There are other good activities as well, forgetting the names but you can easily find them out..

Few Pics are shared below just for. If you are looking for some assistnace mail me at umesh.msr@gmail.com



Monkey crawling over river ramgange



Rock climbing...



Drive to Corbett... a great drive.

Bon Voyage..

Gurgaon on a Very Pleasent Afternoon

Gurgaon on any usual day is pretty hot and dusty unlike towns like bangalore or pune where it is usually pleasent in late afternoons. This is one of the pleasant afternoons of Gurgaon when it rained, settling the dust and heat around. Welcome rains...