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AC Ganesh
Dipan Bhattacharyya, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, Sify Ltd, provides an overview of the SMB market in India, opportunities for Sify and the company’s strategy and plans to take on competition in this segment.
What is the role of Sify in SMB market and the opportunities it perceives?
Bhattacharyya: Sify has defined its role in the enterprise market with its unique set of value added infrastructure, software and security services. The offerings for the SMB are similar, but are sized and combined in a way that caters to the special needs of this segment.
In the SMB market, the key common needs are low cost of ownership and a high component of managed delivery. A typical SMB would not want to lock up a lot of capital in infrastructure components like network, hardware and even software. Also, given the current environment, speed to market and scale of operations, these enterprises will neither be keen nor may be capable of managing complex cutting edge services on their own.
Besides the common needs, SMBs have other typical needs that are dependent on their life-stage of operation. In the start-up phase, the needs range from rapid deployment of cost-effective connectivity, basic messaging, must-have standard applications like office suite, intranet and possibly website, and desktops with entry level managed security as well as an entry level managed perimeter security. In the growth and mature operations phase, the needs can range from multi-site QoS enabled managed connectivity, IP voice and video conferencing, Enterprise Applications (like ERP, CRM), strong privacy and data protection, comprehensive managed security, e-commerce capabilities and supply chain solutions for both forward and backward components.
SMB needs also vary by industry sectors; for instance, with a booming stock market, there is a high need for secure applications that can legally replace paper transactions. In a growing real-estate market there is a strong need for document management for operational efficiency and on-line interaction services to create unique customer experiences before buying.
Sify is a strong player in the managed value added services domain – with its three large data centers, 160 city coverage, and the countries’ most advanced IP VPN network. The company has also been a strong player in the application services and security services domain for the past 4 years and brings to the SMB low cost ownership through its set of Application-as-a-Service and Pay-as-you-use offerings. In fact, Sify has been a pioneer in some of these services, offering them as early as 2002.
What is the market and channel strategy adopted by Sify in reaching out to this segment?
Bhattacharyya: Any strategy to reach the SMB market must address the following objectives:
1. 1. Solution fitment: The solution must fit the unique needs of the SMB. Create sector specific solutions that give features that are valued by the target companies.
2. Efficient and sustainable reach.
3. On Demand Usage
4. Efficient and effective multi-channel (Telephone, Web, on-site) post sale interaction and support
5. World class service governance
How does Sify position itself in the market?
Bhattacharyya: To be service provider of choice as well as trusted provider for all managed connectivity, managed security and application-as-a-service needs of the top 10000 SMBs. Create value with bundled features that make service affordable, as well as by creating sector specific bundles that offer unique functionalities on security, convenience and efficiencies.
Why shift from
Enterprise segment to SMBs?
Bhattacharyya: This is not a shift – after covering the top 1000 enterprises in , it is natural to expand focus to cover the next 10,000.
What are the company’s plans to take on competition?
Bhattacharyya: To create a basket of services that seamlessly blends its infrastructure and on-demand pay-as-you-use service capabilities, ensure that offerings are both comprehensive and are close to the customer and ensure strong post sales interaction & support to create a satisfied customer franchise. Ultimately – it is the customer satisfaction that will drive market share.
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