The Current IT Services & Cybersecurity Landscape in India
Siliconindia recently got a chance to interact with Zakir, wherein he shared his insights on the current IT services industry in India and various other aspects. Below are the excerpts from the exclusive interview
What are your thoughts on the current IT and cybersecurity services market in India?
With almost every services area being digitized, the IT services industry in India is currently on a dream run, and this is expected to continue at least for the next decade. Be it the simplest of our daily tasks to complicated tasks such financial transactions, everything is now being done online with the help of cutting-edge digital technologies. This widespread digitization phenomenon will in turn result in creating a lot opportunities for the cybersecurity space by acting as a catalyst its increased demand and rapid market growth. As people across all age groups get accustomed to the new digital means, organizations across all industries will no doubt increase their investments towards upgrading their existing IT systems.
While this is good news for Indian business and consumers, it also brings along a host cybersecurity risks. Although Indian consumers are very tech-savvy they are still very backward in terms of cybersecurity awareness. This is a very potential opportunity for cybersecurity companies in the country to not only educate the people about it, but also develop effective solutions against various cyber threats and enable both businesses and end users to keep their data secure.
Give us a brief comparison about security of data on-premise and on cloud.
I feel that both of them have same levels of security if they have the right security measures in place. While it is easier to manage data on cloud due to the absence of physical infrastructure, having weak passwords and no stringent policies in terms or sharing/storing passwords, the cloud too becomes vulnerable for cyberattacks. Although both these storage types have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, I personally would opt for cloud, as it is easier to manage and does not require an additional space.
Explain about a few emerging trends in the Indian cybersecurity market and their impact on the growth of the company?
Information Rights Management (IRM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) are two major trends that are gaining a lot of popularity among businesses in recent times. IRM enables an enterprise to set rules and policies for every file that is being shared or stored. For instance, organizations can fix restrictions such as the file being able to be opened only once, operable only on one particular system or device, or even restricting it from being shared with others.
"With the advent of digitization, almost all government departments have now digitized their processes and enabled people access to all services online"
Suggest a few strategies businesses entering the Indian IT sector must have to gain a competitive advantage in the market.'
The best strategy is to have a proper technical infrastructure in place. Since a lot of Indian companies use technology only for their business and lack the necessary knowledge- awareness about it, companies entering the Indian market must provide the necessary technical support for them so that they can use in the best possible way and reap maximum benefits. Offering this kind of technical support will not only educate the customer about the proper usage of a tech solution, but also strengthen their trust and relationship with the brand.
How do you leverage the government’s initiatives and policies related to cybersecurity for your advantage?
With the advent of digitization, almost all government departments have now digitized their processes and enabled people access to all services online. This has increased the amount of computer systems that are being used by the government, further resulting in massive number of security solutions being purchased regularly from various government agencies & departments.
What are your thoughts on the current IT and cybersecurity services market in India?
With almost every services area being digitized, the IT services industry in India is currently on a dream run, and this is expected to continue at least for the next decade. Be it the simplest of our daily tasks to complicated tasks such financial transactions, everything is now being done online with the help of cutting-edge digital technologies. This widespread digitization phenomenon will in turn result in creating a lot opportunities for the cybersecurity space by acting as a catalyst its increased demand and rapid market growth. As people across all age groups get accustomed to the new digital means, organizations across all industries will no doubt increase their investments towards upgrading their existing IT systems.
Information Rights Management (IRM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) are two major trends that are gaining a lot of popularity among businesses in recent times
While this is good news for Indian business and consumers, it also brings along a host cybersecurity risks. Although Indian consumers are very tech-savvy they are still very backward in terms of cybersecurity awareness. This is a very potential opportunity for cybersecurity companies in the country to not only educate the people about it, but also develop effective solutions against various cyber threats and enable both businesses and end users to keep their data secure.
Give us a brief comparison about security of data on-premise and on cloud.
I feel that both of them have same levels of security if they have the right security measures in place. While it is easier to manage data on cloud due to the absence of physical infrastructure, having weak passwords and no stringent policies in terms or sharing/storing passwords, the cloud too becomes vulnerable for cyberattacks. Although both these storage types have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, I personally would opt for cloud, as it is easier to manage and does not require an additional space.
Explain about a few emerging trends in the Indian cybersecurity market and their impact on the growth of the company?
Information Rights Management (IRM) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) are two major trends that are gaining a lot of popularity among businesses in recent times. IRM enables an enterprise to set rules and policies for every file that is being shared or stored. For instance, organizations can fix restrictions such as the file being able to be opened only once, operable only on one particular system or device, or even restricting it from being shared with others.
"With the advent of digitization, almost all government departments have now digitized their processes and enabled people access to all services online"
Suggest a few strategies businesses entering the Indian IT sector must have to gain a competitive advantage in the market.'
The best strategy is to have a proper technical infrastructure in place. Since a lot of Indian companies use technology only for their business and lack the necessary knowledge- awareness about it, companies entering the Indian market must provide the necessary technical support for them so that they can use in the best possible way and reap maximum benefits. Offering this kind of technical support will not only educate the customer about the proper usage of a tech solution, but also strengthen their trust and relationship with the brand.
How do you leverage the government’s initiatives and policies related to cybersecurity for your advantage?
With the advent of digitization, almost all government departments have now digitized their processes and enabled people access to all services online. This has increased the amount of computer systems that are being used by the government, further resulting in massive number of security solutions being purchased regularly from various government agencies & departments.
