Pre-terminated solutions suited to data center environments: MD, R&M India

By Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo

Pre-terminated cabling systems offer a number of advantages for a variety of different network installations, and are particularly suited to data center environments for reasons of time saving, space saving, cooling and security, says Gaurav Ahluwalia, MD, R&M India in an interview with Voice&Data.

Voice&Data: What are some of the notable changing needs and expectations of enterprises when making ICT purchase decisions, and how are you responding to those needs?

Guarav Ahluwalia:  We can see that time is becoming an important factor in today’s ICT decisions. Pre-terminated solutions are starting to be implemented more regularly now. Pre-terminated cabling systems offer a number of advantages for a variety of different network installations, and are particularly suited to data center environments for reasons of time saving, space saving, cooling and security.

It is, however, important to recognize that to reap all the benefits that a pre-terminated solution offers, there is a serious amount of planning that needs to be carried out prior to installation. Attention to detail in the site survey process and the ensuing plan is critical or these benefits will be lost or additional cost incurred.

Voice&Data: What new opportunities and challenges do you see presented (for enterprises) by programs like "Make in India" and "Digital India"? How should that, in your view, shape the ICT buying decisions of enterprises?

Guarav Ahluwalia: We see huge opportunities for our business as this is technology driven and we look to support it with our solutions. Digital India is going to be massive for our industry it opens up large avenues for network infrastructure.

We want to provide our customers with the best possible portfolio of products and that should enable them to trust our brand. There are many competitors in the cabling market but we look to distinguish ourselves through innovation and reliability.

Voice&Data: What are the key technology trends? How mature are the various “digital” themes of social, mobility, analytics and cloud now for the consumption of enterprises?

Guarav Ahluwalia: It can be seen that green data centers have become a necessary trend among organizations as they are looking for ways to reduce corporate energy consumption and be more environmentally responsible. Data centers are an integral part of many technology-intensive businesses. The appetite of data centers for energy, has made costs associated with data centers a significant concern.

Today organizations are implementing more digital themes and to tackle this you require a stronger network infrastructure. Therefore there are conscious efforts being undertaken to improve the energy efficiency of data centers. Energy efficiency in data centers is a growing concern that all organizations share.

Voice&Data: Considering the disruptions posed to businesses due to rapid digitization of the marketplaces, how do you work with enterprises to future-proof their ICT investments? Any specific examples?

Guarav Ahluwalia: Future proofing a network is essential to any business because of the rapid expansions and growth of requirements, so it’s best to look at the future when implementing today’s solutions.

We have carried out numerous installations and during all our installations we try to make a future proof network to ensure that if at any time there is an upgrade to be done then the previous layout will allow it.  During a project we provide the best possible solutions for our clients so that they can tackle their challenges in regards to a network.

Voice&Data: For enterprises, how good is a pay-as-you-go model versus the more traditional models like license-based?

Guarav Ahluwalia: This is purely dependent on the customer. But what we see quite often see is a pay-as- you-go model and some services are provided on a license basis.

A combination of the two allows a customer to get best of both but that in turn is an internal decision. Many organizations have their own method of working and they tend to choose either dependent on their working styles.

Voice&Data: What key considerations should today’s enterprise ICT buyers make to ensure they are investing in the right technologies, products or services?

Guarav Ahluwalia: The organization should look at their requirement before they decide on the budget. We have seen on many occasions that price has decided the solution a customer has received. To enable to customer to get an optimum and future proof network they must first look into the requirement. Layer 1 infrastructure for the network is constantly overlooked even though it is a system that will serve the longest duration of time.