India has been gripped by an intense wave of start-ups. From tech solutions and e-commerce to healthcare and food deliveries, these start-ups are being embraced more and more by Indian consumers and also attracting a substantial amount of attention from foreign shores in the form of angel investors and venture capital. Among the tech start-ups, there are many that have been offering software solutions for enterprises on the cloud. Unfortunately, Indian companies have not been too keen on relying on the cloud for their data needs. This has resulted in these cloud start-ups to look for prospective clients in foreign countries. However, this trend may soon change in the future as Indian companies are finally looking forward to cloud services.
Cloud computing and its services can give a considerable amount of boost to enterprises in terms of technological stability. The need to stay a step ahead of others is what’s causing Indian companies to finally approach these start-ups. Last year, Bangalore-based EnCloudEn, a private cloud infrastructure provider got biotech major Biocon as its customer. This reflects an increasing trend among Indian companies to approach start-ups for tech solutions instead of large companies.
The resistance towards cloud-based services has mainly been due to the common misconception of easy data compromisation on third-party servers. However, due to many foolproof concepts for data protection emerging every year, the resistance is slowly reducing. Another thing that might be the reason of influence of this shift is the fact that SMEs are inclining rapidly towards cloud services. This causes large companies too to step up their game to beat the competition.
Moreover, cloud computing is on the brink of explosion in India. For the 50 million or so startups and small businesses in India, cloud computing is set to be a game changer. Companies can store, manage, process data and use programs through a web-based interface – something that greatly reduces costs. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere through various devices with web connectivity, which is an advantage for small companies who don’t have a huge IT budget.
According to IDC, the cloud computing market in India stood at $688 million in 2012. This very figure is predicted to rise to $3.5 billion by 2016. An IDC survey of 473 respondents resulted in 200 opting for cloud computing. This showcases that the eco-system is ready in terms of customer awareness and the expansion of digital mobility with the cheap access of internet, smartphones and tablets.
SMEs usually have bad technological infrastructure. Either they have to resort to buying expensive software designed for large companies or build their own cheap applications that lack functions. Cloud services are bringing a balance to this field and start-ups can be the harbinger of this technological change.
