‘Virtualization, cloud, and mobility will make security even more critical’

Anil Jain is senior vice president and global business head for the Communication and Media (C&M) vertical, Wipro. Jain is responsible for overall P&L of C&M business spread across LATAM/Europe/APAC/IMEA with over 4000+ employees. He has been in the telecom space for over 10 years and has rich experience of managing complex transformational deals. Prior to his current role, he was senior vice president and business head of profession services division and telecom business, for India and the Middle East.

As a distinguished figure in the telecom industry, he is regularly invited to speak in multiple industry and academic forums. VOICE&DATA spoke to Anil Jain to understand the dynamics and trends of ICT in the sector. Excerpts-

What are the key technology trends in the IT industry, if we look at it as an enterprise?

The key trends driving the IT industry are-variabilization of IT, simplification of legacy, and IT systems and technology led cost optimization. Clients are increasingly demanding solutions that can help them achieve higher efficiency, simplify their systems and processes and variabilize their costs. These market forces along with a weak macroeconomic environment demand greater agility from IT companies. In addition, the adoption of macro technology trends by enterprises-cloud, mobility, analytics, and social media-is also creating exciting opportunities for the IT industry.

What are the business challenges the industry is facing at present?After years of accelerated double-digit growth, the industry is facing a period of sluggish growth. Due to the slow economic activity and margin pressures, clients today seek solutions that deliver cost optimization and quantifiable business benefits. In many cases, IT vendors are also required to do upfront investments and take ownership of client infrastructure, which increases the risks involved.

In addition, given the rapid pace of technology evolution, one of the biggest challenges is achieving agility, the ability to quickly ramp-up resources based on client requirements. This is specifically true for emerging technologies such as cloud, M2M and analytics.

What are the technology requirements of your company and who are your vendors that look after your ICT tools?

Like any large enterprise that has hundreds of thousands of employees, our ICT needs are distributed across various business functions and operations. The key ones can be listed as communications, collaboration and productivity tools, planning, payroll, finance and many others.

How has the IT industry technologically evolved over the last few years?

Although, the initial value proposition for the industry was basic cost and talent advantages, the focus is shifting towards variabilization, more value creation, and business transformation deals. One of the greatest shifts in the recent years has been the rise of variabilization of IT due to the adoption of on-demand and pay-per-use models. These models provide clients with greater flexibility to minimize their upfront investments and help them better manage sudden spikes in demand. In addition, IT today needs to be business relevant as clients seek guaranteed business outcomes from vendors before investing.

Are you facing any kind of issues in finding the right kind of solutions for your requirements?

Most solutions require some level of customization, and the question of right or wrong solutions cannot be generalized. It will vary depending upon various factors such as functionality, scalability, and cost.

Has your company deployed mobile applications both for internal working as well as for your partners?If yes, what are those applications? If not, when are you planning to deploy?

We are a leading IT company and have developed numerous mobility solutions and applications.

How do you see this industry in the recent future?

The focus is increasingly shifting towards non-linearity; a client-centric approach and developing innovative solutions that can help solve clients' key business challenges. Led by this trend, we will witness the rise of innovative outcome based and risk-rewards engagement business models in coming years.

Which are the areas where you are planning to cut down cost through ICT solutions?ICT tools are of utmost importance in today's globalized business environment. ICT solutions such as telepresence and v-con bring together geographically spread teams, thereby ensuring greater collaboration, saving time, and help cut considerable travel costs.

How are you ensuring that cloud computing becomes a successful proposition for enterprises?

As mentioned earlier, variabilizing IT costs and cost optimization are the key focus areas for enterprises today. Cloud computing has applications in many areas including platforms, software, and even infrastructure. Cloud computing provides organizations with the flexibility to pay-as-they-go, and migrate to a variable cost model from the traditional fixed costs model. As a leading IT services provider, we have built state-of-theart cloud solutions offering private, public as well as hybrid cloud solutions to our clients, with best-in-class scalability and security.Security is a big issue in the IT world.

What is your security policy and how do you see it unveiling over the years?

Indeed, security is of prime importance to any IT company. We place highest emphasis on security and utilize best-inclass solutions to provide our clients with a secure environment. In the coming years, security will become even more critical due to the rise of virtualized environments, cloud computing, and mobility