Building Bharat - Kochi Chapter

The tier 2 & tier 3 cities in India have witnessed tremendous economic growth in the past decade. Most of this could be accredited to the rapid digitalisation in the two- year period of the Covid pandemic lockdown.

Kochi, popularly known as the ‘commercial capital of Kerala’, is one such city. Flanked by the Arabian sea, Kochi is not only known for scenic landscapes but also provides a base for a majority of enterprises in Kerala. The city opens up most employment opportunities in the state. Chemical industry, IT, shipbuilding, and healthcare services are some of the leading industries in Kochi. With recent developments like the launch of Kochi Water Metro in February 2021 and two floating solar power plants in January 2021, Kochi has been setting up benchmarks for tier 2 cities across the country. Moreover, the government’s initiative to open Info Park in the city has been instrumental in boosting the growth and development of IT in Kochi.

The lockdown not only posed a golden period for technology advancements and enhanced technology adoption but, also reshaped the work culture in Kerala and across the country.

As people in India started working from home, cafes and restaurants, while on a vacation, or from anywhere, the demand for upgrades in the IT infrastructure significantly rose. Therefore, to successfully adapt to the changing trends and establish a hybrid work model, enterprises have started investing heavily in improving IT infrastructure, cybersecurity solutions, adoption of emerging technologies, and more. This in turn opened up immense opportunities for the IT service providers and partners who are driving the channel of IT service delivery in the country.

The two-year period, though hard-hitting for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs), it also opened doors to shift from traditional business to digital modes and transform the growth of their businesses in the times to come. For SMEs, digitalisation has resulted in optimised operations, enhanced efficiency and productivity, and improved service delivery.

In an effort to embrace the opportunities as the market climbs the ladder to recovery, CRN India in association with Dell Technologies and Tech Data organised the third edition of Building Bharat conference in Kochi on 24th August 2022. The conference witnessed huge participation from SMEs in the city.

The SME sector in the country is on the path to growth and it’s required to grow further to achieve the government's aim to make India a five trillion dollar economy. IT, today, plays an integral part to bolster the efforts from these SMEs to flourish and achieve their goals.

Repaka Ramesh,Advisory Systems Engineer, Dell Technologies, shared his invaluable insights on the theme ‘Modernise Your IT Infrastructure.’

He said, “The way we live, the way we transact, the way we work, everything has transformed and gone through a digital makeover. However, what is to be taken care of is the priorities are focused on reinforcing IT infrastructure and solutions based on the organisation’s needs while moving from traditional business to digital business.”

Speaking of the huge data that is being generated today as the consumption of internet and digital interfaces has risen, Ramesh highlighted that of the 177 zb of data that would come up in the coming years, most of it will be generated just in the coming three to four years. However, only 1 percent of this data will be utilised by businesses.

Digitisation is providing a lot of opportunities for growth but it's also raising up challenges. These technologies need upgrades and a strong backend Infrastructure to support operations. Technology needs to become efficient and effective in the times to come, he added.

Laying emphasis on how SMEs could leverage advanced technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency, he said that automation is necessary to bring in autonomous technologies in business processes. This will result in the automation of redundant processes while the human resource could be optimally used for more dynamic and critical areas. “Also, when we talk about application modernisation we need to modernise our IT infrastructure first,” he added.

Ramesh brought to light that “IT solutions must focus on driving value to the business. Enterprises should leverage modern technologies like cloud, AI, and automation to optimise operations and innovate business. This transformation would play a key role to drive value to their businesses.” However, underlining the right use of technology to serve the right purpose in the right setting, he said that organisations should embrace cloud solutions based on their needs and not by choice.

Speaking of Dell’s wide range of solutions, he said, “We have designed servers that can streamline applications, optimise operations, boost efficiency and bring out desired outcomes. Our products address proactive resilience to ensure that systems and software are designed for secure interactions with the capability to identify potential threats.” Citing an example he spoke about VxRail - an organisation's shortest path to hybrid cloud. This works like a server and a storage solution as well. There's a single support and communication point for any issues.

Representatives from the participating SMEs also shared their views on the overall scenario of technology-driven transformation in channel business and its impact on economic growth.

KA Joseph, Secretary, Kerala State Small Industry Association said, ”We are working to bridge the gap between the government and the SMEs in the state of Kerala.” Addressing the need for technology solutions he added, “To overcome costly labour and improve the quality and quantity of production, we need to leverage automation.”

Alexander Vaidian, CEO, Relcon Foundation Pvt Ltd stated, “Without technology, we cannot survive in the market today. When we look at immense data collection and its processing, cloud solutions become imperative to cater to the rising volume of data. Dell would be a great support to many enterprises like us.” Highlighting how the state government is promoting the hybrid work culture in the state, he said, the government is prioritising digitsation. “We are seeing government campaigns promoting work from Kerala which is attracting people from nearby states to come to Kerala. Such campaign open up new avenues for IT services to serve the demands of tourists on a ‘workation’ in Kerala.”

The third conference in the series of ‘Building Bharat’ held at Kochi ended on a high note. The delegates expressed appreciation for Dell’s lineup of products and were in consensus with each other on how Dell has come up with technology solutions that cater to every type of customer - ranging from the industry’s first 15th generation server Dell’s EMC PowerEdge to the industry’s most preferred storage solution, Dell’s Unity. The company also offers Cloud IQ, a one-of-a-kind solution to track and monitor an organisation’s health, predict utilisation, requirements, detect anomalies, and more. Dell’s wide portfolio is one of its biggest USPs.