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In this unique segment of DQ Channels, we have covered the Cloud journey of Dastur Investments Pvt. Ltd (DIPL) being a Cloud Partner. Amitava Mukherjee, Vice President - Information Systems shared his entire journey about how his organisation has moved to the cloud business, challenges, growth, and future vision.
When and how did you move to Cloud Business?
DIPL was in the business of end-to-end managed services for on-premise IT infrastructure including Networking, IT Security and application development for Clients including system administration, application deployment, end-user support and continual improvement. One of our prime large-sized customers in the engineering consultancy business domain, for whom we were managing their on-premise data centre, had shown a desire to move on to the cloud in early 2020. We took this opportunity to develop the skill/competency of our technical team for the implementation and management of cloud services to meet the customer’s requirements. The DIPL team otherwise had a very rich knowledge and experience to deliver on-premise IT infrastructure and systems in alignment with the Client’s business needs, especially in the engineering domain.
On successful completion of this transformation from an on-premise data centre to a Microsoft Azure cloud-based hybrid platform within a stipulated compressed timeframe and without any business downtime, we got confident about catering for the forthcoming market demand for the digital transformation on a cloud or a hybrid platform. Our technical team became experts in WVD deployment, migration of engineering and legacy business applications, big-data migration and migration of legacy mail systems to M365.
As the COVID 19 pandemic situation forcing the business houses to think about employees safety while commuting to the office, at the same time seek to continue business operation as usual without any compromise, the demand for a stable and robust Work-From-Home (WFH) platform shoot up. With this, our journey started by including the M365 and Azure cloud business in our service offering.
What are the different Cloud services do you offer?
DIPL’s spectrum of services include-
Azure Cloud Services:
- Proof of Concept
- Cloud Advisory
- Cloud-based Identity Management – Multi-factor Authentication
- Cloud Migration- Lift and Shift/ Hybrid
- Cloud Virtual Network and Resource Management
- Cloud Gateway Security and VPN (S2S/P2S)
- Cloud based End user computing - WVD deployment & Automation
- Cloud Data Back-up and Disaster Recovery
- Cloud Data Security
- End-User Training and Support
- Cloud Cost and Performance Optimization
- Application Deployment and Cloud Governance
Implementation and Maintenance of M365 Business Suite
- Legacy on-premise email System Migration to M365 based online Exchange/Outlook
- Email security system on M365
- MS Teams Deployment
- SharePoint and OneDrive
- Collaboration on Microsoft Office - within or with outside of organization
- Power APPs and Power Bi
DIPL is also an authorized partner and implementor of ACRONIS Backup and Endpoint Security Management solution for Cloud and On-premise IT Infrastructure.
In addition to the above, DIPL also provides On-Premise Infrastructure services which include
- Performance Monitoring and Issue Management
- Change and Configuration Management
- OS and Patch Management
- Private Cloud Management
- Network Management
- Gateway & End-Point Security Management
- Bulk Data storage Management
- Process Audits & Consulting
Previously on Cloud Partner Journey: Silicon Systems
What sort of changes have you done to move to the cloud within the organisation in terms of Team, skill set, infrastructure, and others?
We have implemented and are now managing the Azure cloud and M365 platform for our client, MN Dastur, which is a leading engineering consulting firm. This implementation project allowed us to understand the business challenges of the engineering industry, their specific requirements, and the nuances of hosting business and engineering applications in the Azure cloud in the most cost optimum way, especially for engineering/manufacturing companies. This also helped us to gain expertise in migrating the legacy applications from on-premise to Azure and in the smart deployment of Windows Virtual Desktops (WVDs) along with graphics-heavy engineering applications or 3D modelling software, to end-users.
Our implementation team, which was already experienced in the on-premise data centre, has spent dedicated time and efforts towards upskilling themselves to imbibe the necessary competency needed for cloud implementation and post-implementation management. We have embarked on a series of cloud certification programs for all our technical and sales resources.
Additionally, we have developed an Azure Cloud set-up ready to provide on-demand Proof-Of-Concept (POC) to our customers at a very nominal cost, enabling them to have a firsthand experience before taking a business decision towards the cloud transformation.
How does Crayon Software help you to grow your business and customers?
Journey with CRAYON is a story of true professional partnership. The CRAYON team members are easily reachable, highly competent in their technical skills, very responsive and proactive to extend assistance as and when required. This cooperative nature of CRAYON team members helped DIPL to quickly cross over the incubation stage of their business. CRAYON is also helping us with various opportunities for setting up a quick go-to-market strategy and evolve an ecosystem for partner-to-partner cooperation and business relationships. In addition to all the aforesaid, they also pass on various benefits/schemes/offers from OEM and help us with skill development and certifications for our team members.
How are your old and new customers adopting the new technology and moving to the cloud?
DIPL adopted the Lift and Shift Model for our old customer, which has over 700 engineers operating out of offices worldwide. In addition to Azure, DIPL also guided the client to implement and adopt the integrated M365 enterprise business suite, including email migration to M365 based Exchange online from Lotus Domino and proper adoption of OneDrive, SharePoint etc. in alignment with their business processes.
This digital transformation for our client has been highly successful and encouraging for both the client and DIPL. This transformation was seamless and managed with zero (0) business downtime. As a result, the business process continuity of the organization was not hampered, and the end-user experience of this transition has been smooth.
Our client is extremely satisfied with this digital transformation as they are now able to manage their workflow better on a global set-up without losing time, and the company is also able to keep its employees safe during the pandemic situation. As the human resources/skill-sets are being shared across different offices working in different time zones in different geographical territories, and as the collaboration with clients and vendors becoming much easier and system-driven, the company is experiencing improved business efficiency and productivity of its employees.
We are confident that this business case will encourage our potential customers from the engineering and manufacturing sector to invest in cloud migration.
How many customers do you have, who are taking Cloud solutions and what are their different verticals?
At present we have one customer who has shifted to the cloud and is in process of integrating other IT infrastructure. This is an engineering consulting firm that works in the manufacturing or industrial sector who is having 20+ engineering verticals/departments. We are also working on a few customers in the Health sector, Human resource consultancy etc.
What are the different challenges did you face in this journey?
We are reaching out to new customers and the biggest challenge we are facing is the lack of awareness of customers about the cloud and its benefits. Customers are also apprehensive about their data security, reliability of the platform, ease and extent of access control, application deployment mechanism, data backup and billing mechanism. We are trying to educate the companies and people on the cloud infrastructure, the cash flow, costs and ROI and system scalability. Our POC infrastructure is helping the client to understand it better.
What is your overall growth being a cloud partner?
We are at the nascent stage of growth and right now we are trying to understand the challenges and issues faced by our customers and offer them the right solutions to overcome those challenges. We are committed to offering the most cost-optimized, balanced and stable solution to the business requirements of our clients. Legal compliance, transparency and ethical work practice is the foundation of DIPL business.
What are your future goals?
DIPL wants to establish itself as a leading one-stop shop for cloud-only services, hybrid cloud services, enterprise business suites, and on-premise Infrastructure management, especially for manufacturing and industrial companies.