Newsletter Signup:

Rains from private clouds percolate to SMBs
In India, a couple of small firms are demonstrating the true value of private clouds By Srikanth RP, InformationWeek, July 25, 2011

The true sign of a technology being adopted is when smaller enterprises start implementing a particular technology for maximizing business value. In India, a couple of small firms are demonstrating why cloud computing is equally beneficial for them, as it is for larger enterprises.

A case in point is Somnet Dynagraphics, a small IT solutions firm that has built a private cloud using open source.  Says Shantanu Som, Director-Technical, Somnet Dynagraphics, “Our sales people can now load data in CRM from anywhere, which entirely runs on cloud. Our support engineers get support tickets via SMS on their mobile while on the move, bettering their response time and increasing customer satisfaction.”

 

 Som says that the open source framework has given his firm low TCO. “Now, we have more employee engagement which translates into higher operational efficiency. Less IT investment per employee is also another motivational factor.”

To enhance security, Somnet uses 128 bit encryption and OTP (One Time Password). The OTP reaches a user via a SMS. This provides a high security environment, even if employees use an Internet café.

The scalability of the private cloud makes it apt for SMBs. “One of our business units supports around 2,200 installations of high-end multifunction devices and this is a customer intensive operation. We manage the entire operation and workflows of that unit with our own solution which also has a self service module for all 2,200 users. This is a complex requirement as most of the workflows and business reports are extremely customized,” explains Som, on why a private cloud makes sense for his enterprise.

Another case in point is True Value Homes, a fast growing construction company. The pace of growth of the organization can be seen from the fact that the company has completed 4 million square feet of cumulative construction and has projects covering about 12 million square feet in the pipeline—9 million in residential and 3 million in commercial property. Every year, the firm has plans to achieve a target of building 2.5 million square feet.

 

For this organization, meeting IT infrastructure requirements with the pace of growth is a challenging task. A private cloud is apt as it gives the firm the ability to quickly deliver infrastructure requirements from a central location.

“Whenever a new site comes up, it takes only two minutes to provide infrastructure and access to end users,” exclaims Arun Nehru, Director-Procurement and IT, True Value Homes. Nehru marks ‘security’ as the biggest draw of the private cloud as it helps the IT function in centralizing and monitoring user access. True Value has built the private cloud using hardware from IBM.

blog comments powered by Disqus

InformationWeek India on Facebook