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The New Year has rung in on a note of optimism. The auld lang syne has left an abundant feel good factor, primarily because Enterprise across sectors has shown healthy results. There are, of course, several other reasons, some real and some not so real - the stock market, the dollar reserve, the BPO boom, the cellular truce. The list can arguably go on. It is not my intent to discuss those here. Instead I reflected what changes will greatly influence the Enterprise and I came up with my top three picks (not necessarily in any order of priority or importance).
The first factor is around technology and has to do with the availability of true broadband to home service in a large scale around the country. Of the several components of the broadband value chain, one that needs to be set right immediately is Access - be it through unbundling of copper or a revolutionary near line-of-sight technology that is plug and play. One direct benefit that will definitely accrue is reliable telecommuting - a trend that has been gaining significant momentum internationally.
The other day, folks at Sify were on video conference with a Network Architect of a Telco, while carrying some traffic engineering on a piece of network at Los Angeles. Nothing unusual in that, except that this person was sitting at his home in Virginia while carrying out the entire tests at 3-30a.m. in the morning! I was told that he had a dozen servers and an equal number of routers to boot at his video conference enabled home! A true teleworker! The benefits of being able to teleworking are obvious! Another application that has tremendous potential is remote customer relationship management, where agents can take calls from home. This will allow Enterprise to deploy a breed of employees often referred to as Permanent Part Time - and this set also includes house-wives who have a few hours free every day. Easy on everyone - the employer, the employee and the customer does not know the difference!
The second factor is around regulation, or more appropriately, around deregulation of voice services. Voice tariffs have seen a near free fall with the share of the pie starting to get more evenly distributed, especially with cellular phones coming of age. It is high time that the antiquated rule of not allowing the switched and packet voice to co-exist is done away with. More so because India has ushered in many reforms much more aggressively, but seems to be ignoring this critical regulation. World over, integration of office PABX system with the network is allowed, with least cost routing algorithm deciding which way will the call be setup. The benefits are not only of cost and convenience, but also of significant productivity increase due to easy connectivity. Even the small and medium business can install Unified Messaging platforms that provide features of high end switches - including directory services, voice mail, find me follow me, etc. - integrated with e-mail and fax at a really affordable price. A true productivity booster!
The third factor is cultural, and not necessarily to do with the IT industry alone. It is around developing the service culture in the country. It is well established that we Indians have superior intellectual skill sets and have made a mark internationally around the services sector, whereas countries in the Far East have shown considerable superiority in the manufacturing segment.
Yet, it is surprising that when it comes to delivering services to clients within the country, the standards are not quite the same. It has little to do with the challenging Indian infrastructure or the low-earning rupee business. It is largely to do with the monopolistic legacy that we inherited, from telecom to airlines to automobiles. Fortunately, India has emerged out of the tunnel of monopoly. The customers have tasted service and will now demand the same in its purest form. Only those organizations with a strong mind set to go to any length to fulfill the needs of their customers will stand the test of time. And the service culture of a company should not just be restricted to the customer service department only but should start with the CEO! It is true that when you demand quality, you get it!
The future is exciting and it's possibilities endless. It is up to us to shape it the way we want to. And at Sify, we have rededicated ourselves to focus on meetings our customers' needs through best-of-breed technology and processes and continually enhancing the value of our service offerings.
Rahul Swarup
President
Sify Enterprise Solution
We
welcome your comments and suggestions.
Please e-mail us at esbmarketing@sifycorp.com
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