Transformation Tour - Guwahati Chapter

Guwahati is the largest city in the northeastern state of Assam in India, and the IT infrastructure here is continually evolving, with new developments and advancements taking place. It also provides a conducive environment for MSMEs to thrive. The city offers several opportunities and support mechanisms for MSME businesses.

The city built IT parks to attract and support firms that offer IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS), and it currently has a large number of data centres that offer networking, processing, and storage capabilities to fulfil the demands of businesses and organisations.

An increasing number of software development companies are based in Guwahati, serving both domestic and foreign customers and contributing to the city's IT industry. Startup accelerators and incubators in Guwahati are more common and offer resources, assistance, and guidance to aspiring business owners. Numerous educational institutions that train students for careers in the IT industry by providing IT-related courses and programmes are located in the city. To aid in the development of Guwahati's IT infrastructure, the state government of Assam has launched a number of projects.

MSMEs in Guwahati are using technology more and more to improve their business processes and competitiveness. Adopting digital platforms, e-commerce solutions, cloud computing, and automation are a few of the strategies that can be used to boost productivity, streamline procedures, and reach a larger client base.

In general, technology has benefited MSMEs and assisted them in overcoming difficult situations. CRN India, in partnership with Dell Technologies and Ingram Micro, had organised a major conference, Transformation Tour, in Guwahati at the Novotel on June 9, 2023, to make the most of the opportunities available and meet the city's growing demand for cutting-edge technologies as well as the growth trajectory for MSMEs and channel partners.

First, a lively panel discussion featuring industry experts on "Navigating the Digital Landscape: Strategies for SMBs in India to Embrace Digital Transformation" was held.

Digital transformation is essential, according to Cotton University's Head of IT and HOD, Professor Hiten Choudhury. He also discussed how Cotton University uses sophisticated ERP technology to streamline all of its online procedures, including admission, payment, and form submission for exams.

Prof. Choudhury stated, "In our department, we are currently working more on 5G and its security control, and its future concentration this year will be around AI."

Forethought India's CTO and co-founder, Dhruba Sarma, stressed the company's aggressive use of artificial intelligence to extract human emotion from consumer calls and emails. "We are concurrently developing software and solutions and advancing to the cloud. Consequently, choosing the correct technology partner is essential to safeguarding our infrastructure while we develop new solutions", said Sarms.

Rahul Baruah, CTO of Xcraft Online Pvt. Ltd., underlined the need to stay informed about new technologies that will aid MSME businesses in expanding and scaling.

The final speaker, Rana Pandey, Group Product Manager at Ingram Micro, emphasised how their partner, Dell Technologies, is well positioned to assist businesses in moving forward and how its dependable infrastructure handles the majority of global workloads in thousands of data centres worldwide.

In addition, he emphasised, "With Ingram Micro having a global footprint and strong partner network, we continue to help MSMEs innovate, scale, and stay up-to-date with current trends and technologies."

Rana Pandey, Group Product Manager at Ingram Micro, gave a presentation on the topic of "Introducing innovations for today's workforce: Grow your opportunities with Dell technologies" following the enlightening panel discussion. He stressed the crucial ways in which Dell's new precision range meets the needs of experts and power users. While walking the audience through the shift, he said, "As the movement to mobile form factors continues, Dell Technologies is simplifying their desktop portfolio by removing different series and focusing instead on key form factors."

According to Pandey, Dell thinks the shift to hybrid working will go forever and that you need curated, individualised solutions.

During the product line presentation for Dell, Pandey claimed that Dell Optimizer uses AI to enhance collaboration and create more intelligent and customised security.

The most adaptable, economical, and environmentally friendly desktop lineup, according to Rana, is the one from the Dell Optiplex range. Your clients can work confidently from any location with Dell Latitude thanks to the most sophisticated business PCs on the market.

After the presentation, there were multiple rounds of questions and answers, and the crowd engaged in the panel discussion with enthusiasm. On the Transformation Tour, Guwahati was visited a second time after more than 20 tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The conference came to a pleasant conclusion. The city's SMBs and IT channel partners were incredibly appreciative and actively backed it.

Over 53 people from the MSME segment attended the conference, which came to a successful conclusion.

The visitors appreciated Dell's product line and shared their perspectives with the CRN India team on how Dell assisted MSMEs in Guwahati in becoming digital enterprises and how this benefited the local economy.