Interaction - Sivarajan Rajagopal, Founder, AltF9 Technology Solutions

Sivarajan Rajagopal, Founder, AltF9 Technology Solutions, Chennai talks about the rising hardware, software and as a service platform in detail

Which segments in hardware, software and as-a-service platforms are giving growth opportunities in 2022?

Sivarajan Rajagopal - Below are significant highlights of the growing opportunities in 2022 –

Unified Communication/IP PBX

The Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IP PBX) market has grown significantly 2017 to 2022. There are several reasons owning an IP PBX Will Change the Way Your Enterprise Work –

1. Good Customer Assistant
2. Emerging Communication
3. Remote/Hybrid
4. Environment setup

Businesses with multiple branches or offices located at different locations don’t necessarily need to invest in maintaining separate trunk lines for employees to make outgoing calls or IT resources to manage the same. IP PBX, a telephone switch based on IP protocol, is manageable from a central location to a web-based interface. Trunk lines in a centrally installed PBX can be utilised by employees at different locations, making it easy to own a communication system.

Organisations like to setup an environment that has employee friendly remote and hybrid models. This is why UC Grow faster.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

As the demand for digital assets increased, there has been a massive growth in the amount of both structured and unstructured data, which is driving the need for data protection services with a strategic focus on data-centric organisations. 

DLP solutions were majorly utilized in regulated industries, such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, energy, and government. However, with the rising need for protection, DLP solution providers have been targeting advisory and services companies dealing with a wide range of end-user industries.

Data loss prevention solves three main objectives that are common for many organisations – 1) Personal information protection/compliance, 2) Intellectual property (IP) protection and 3) data visibility.

What is your view of SaaS?

Sivarajan Rajagopal - Following what I have to say about SaaS -

SAAS for Office Productivity

SaaS software is one of the fastest-growing segments of the IT market. The main reason for the growth is the pandemic and the transfer of a large number of employees to remote work. But SaaS will continue to evolve after employees return to the offices. Further, experts believe that next year 75% of companies will use all or almost all applications only in the form of SaaS.

Below are the main reasons for SAAS growth opportunities –

• It’s a subscription model that saves time. Instead of buying software and then installing it, SaaS users subscribe to the software on a monthly or an annual basis.
• Low setup and infrastructure costs.
• You just pay for what you need with no capital expenditure that needs to be depreciated on your balance sheet over time.
• Accessible from anywhere – just connect to the internet and you can work from wherever you need to be via desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile or other networked devices.
• Scalability – you can adapt your requirements to the number of people who need to use the system, the volume of data and the functionality required as your business grows.

Security at the highest level required by any customer

Because of the shared nature of the service, all users benefit from the security level that’s been set up for those with the highest need.

Security involves the services related to backup. Data backup and recovery is an essential service for all workplaces.

Office Tools

For any environment, Office productivity tools for communication and collaboration are important. Microsoft 365 and Zoho Workspace, Microsoft 365 are some of the fastest growing products and solutions.

VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)

This is a fast growing segment and is finding wide popularity with remote and hybrid workplaces.

There is a lot of demand for AWS Workspace, Azure and Accops, from clients around the world for VDI.

Cloud Computing

Now many workplaces are adopting Cloud for its low-cost and remote and hybrid workplace feasibility.

AWS and Azure with services assessment, implementation, migration, cost optimisation, security and compliances, managed services are very important.

What are the challenges in these growth-oriented Segments?

Sivarajan Rajagopal - There is a host of challenges that IT professionals face in order to efficiently optimise their IT infrastructure. Following are some of them –

Outdated systems and technology

Given the fast-paced evolution of technology, systems go obsolete very fast. As such, it is imperative to keep your systems updated with the latest technology developments in the industry. Upgrading your hardware and software frequently will help you boost productivity, enhance efficiency and gain a competitive edge over your peers.

Faulty networks and connectivity

Other major challenges with IT management are faulty networks and poor connectivity issues. In the digital age, it is imperative to continuously monitor network performance and focus on improving connectivity. This will help keep your infrastructure management relevant for the modern age where clients are more demanding than ever and you need to be on top of your services to compete with your peers.

Data acquisition, storage and management issues

In this digital age, both the collection and acquisition of data have become simpler, leading to an explosion of data volumes. As such, managing this sheer volume of data has become a major challenge for businesses. Data loss due to insufficient storage capabilities clubbed with ineffective data management turns out to be extremely costly for companies. It is, therefore, important to design a strategy that incorporates the need for more data storage space and better management of data.

Scalability limitations

A major concern for businesses aiming for effective IT management is scalability. While businesses typically require IT expansion, overconsumption can lead to a lot of wastage in case usage drops. You need to integrate with scalable infrastructure monitoring software to ensure that your system is prepared to adapt and respond to your evolving needs.

--By B Swaminathan

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