Unicel Technologies recognized for cloud communications

BANGALORE, INDIA: Unicel Technologies, which is dealing in the cloud communications market in India, has been announced as a winner of the Red Herring 100 Asia, 2013 award.

This award recognizes the leading private companies from Asia, celebrating these startups' innovations and technologies across their respective industries. Red Herring 100 awards are widely acknowledged as one of the industry's most prestigious and sought-after recognitions, with up to 1,400 candidates from each continent competing each year.

While still being nimble enough to adapt to the rapidly changing telecommunications and mobile landscape, businesses need to find more effective and efficient ways to communicate with their customers and employees. Many businesses have recognized the power of cloud communications to meet these requirements.

Unicel Technologies provides a complete range of cloud communications solutions delivered over SMS, voice, USSD, and email, and has been the innovation leader in this space to make communication simple for enterprises.

The Red Herring Top 100 Asia winners were announced earlier in September, 2013 in Hong Kong. Unicel Technologies was evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration.

Sanjay Aggarwal, CEO, Unicel Technologies speaks about his views on the recent shift in positioning from enterprise mobility solution provider to cloud communication specialist. Excerpts:

CIOL: What are your views on the recent shift in positioning from enterprise mobility solution provider to cloud communication specialist?

Sanjay Aggarwal: We have actually always been a cloud communications provider, though it so happened that for a long time users were mostly focused on SMS as a communications platform. We positioned ourselves mostly around messaging. However, as the market changes, and user requirements change, it is important to evolve the business focus. Over time, we have been developing a more full suite of communications services, such that we can now confidently position ourselves as a full-service cloud communications provider.

CIOL: Was the shift in positioning a business- or technologically-led decision?

SA: This was driven by both business and technology. On the business side, we can see that customers are looking for more capabilities from their communications partner. On the technology side, we have been upgrading our platform in the anticipation that the market requirements will change. Fortunately, we have been able to bring both aspects together at the same time to be well-positioned to meet the market opportunity.

CIOL: How will this positioning benefit you?

SA: The shift in positioning is important both in terms of the kinds of solutions our customers are expecting from us, and in terms of the kinds of solutions we are expecting from ourselves. The positioning is important in not only projecting what we do more effectively to the market, but also in driving our aspirations for the market.

CIOL: What are the differences seen after the new positioning?

SA: There has been a notable shift in the types of conversations we are having with our customers. Services like voice and USSD are still relatively new to the market, so this gives us a great opportunity to brainstorm with the customer on how they can leverage these services to improve their businesses. The new positioning helps in projecting ourselves as a solutions partner for our customers, rather than simply an SMS vendor.

CIOL: What are the growth aspects of this market?

SA: The cloud communications market in India is approximately Rs. 1,000 crore annually, growing at more than 30 percent annually. We have a 15 percent market share in our target market segments.