|
India Glycols, a market leader in India for Glycols and other value added
specialty chemicals has a plant in Kashipur, Uttarakhand. Now you cannot
associate Kashipur with availability of high quality IT infrastructure
management services. But with remote infrastructure management (RIM) its a
different storyKashipur is not any different from New York. Thats the beauty
of RIM that companies with office locations in the remotest part of the country
are getting the best of services from world class service providers.
Another key trend that RIM has brought into focus is that it has made
possible for hundreds of small and mid size businesses to expand to new
geographies without having to worry about availability of IT resources in those
locations. So have the many regional cooperative banks that signed up RIM
service providers to manage their IT assets in tier-2 and -3 cities.
The need for 24x7x365 reliability and high availability of IT infrastructure,
shortage and growing cost of high-end IT skills, the growing need for
optimization of IT resources, need for scalability and flexibility, and the
growing focus of companies on extracting more from their existing IT resources
are the key factors driving organizations to buy RIM services. Moreover, in the
currently difficult business environment, IT departments are under severe
pressure to deliver business value and control costs.
|
The RIM Platter of Services |
- Helpdesk Services
- Network Monitoring and Management
- Server Monitoring and Management
- Storage Services
- Security Management and Services
- Desktop Services
- Application Management and Support
- Disaster Recovery
|
- System Administration
- Database Administration
- Firewall and Router Monitoring and Management
- Capacity Planning
- Performance Monitoring
- Incident, Problem and Change Management
- Backup Scheduling and Monitoring
|
All this is what has made RIM a multi-billion dollar business worldwide and a
fast growing trend in the IT services business that has created significant
opportunities for Indian companies. While on one hand the trend is being driven
by technological advancements and growing ability of telecom networks to deliver
services remotely, on the other, business organizations are finding it
attractive in terms of cost savings, optimization of IT resources and making up
for lack of skilled IT professionals, especially in remote locations.
Defining RIM
Remote infrastructure management is about managing IT infrastructure and
applications of an organization remotely primarily, but not exclusively, by an
external service provider. Or in other words, the service provider manages the
hardware and software assets of the organization from outside the physical
location of these assets. The key value adds that a RIM service provider brings
is proactive 24x7x365 monitoring and management of the IT assets ensuring high
availability and reliability of those assets. It is estimated that around 85-90%
of all IT assets can be managed remotely.
| It
Happens in India India was amongst the
first offshore locations to leverage the RIM opportunity, and today it is
well positioned to capture a big chunk of the IT infrastructure management
market |
| The Indian service providers capability,
experience and depth in this space is not only challenging the global
players but also proving to be a big boon for CIOs across the globe who are
looking at smart sourcing options for their IT operations outsourcing. In
India, the traditional Big 5 IT players like TCS, Wipro Technologies, IBM,
Infosys, HCL Technologies, dominate the RIM market. However, even the
smaller companies are fast learning the tricks of the trade and are pretty
quick in enhancing their expertise in the RIM solutions space. According to
Swapan Johri, senior vice president, IT Operations and Emerging Services,
HCLT ISD, one of the main competitive advantages that India offers is a
highly skilled labor pool, which has the ability to cater to the global
clients. India has witnessed a healthy growth in the number of its IT
professionals with the total direct employment in the Indian IT/ITeS
growing, says Johri.
Indian RIM vendors have a clear advantage in terms of process maturity in
offshore service delivery. As business dependency on IT is growing in India,
the need for 24x7 support is increasing at a rapid pace. The RIM industry is
growing at 70-80% y-o-y globally. Although the domestic market for RIM is
slower than that, the demand is fast catching up to meet the global pace.
In the last two years the domestic market for RIM has started looking up.
The customers here have understood the benefits of remote infrastructure
management and are gradually shifting to opt for this latest model. The
domestic customers acceptation to the process are rising as they are getting
comfortable with the security aspects which is a primary concern when anyone
takes control over the systems remotely, and that always accounts for
security threats as well as delivery capability of the service providers
through the remote model, explains Kiran Desai, general manager & business
head-, managed IT services, Wipro Infotech, India and Middle East.
Previously, remote model was mostly meant for network management while other
aspects like end user support, data center support, application support,
etc, were not so active. However, as per the current trend out of the total
infrastructure management business, around 15-20% comes through remote model
and the rest happens through onsite due to customer reservations. Albeit,
according to industry experts, this trend is bound to change and the ratio
of 20:80 is expected to rise at the level of 40:60 in the next five years.
Domestic market is very active nowadays as Indian IT firms look for the IMS
opportunity. Clients evaluate delivery capabilities based on the vendors
Network Operating Center (NOC) setup. Infrastructure management is a
critical issue and the entire network must therefore be ready for
appropriate reactions. There should be operational and technological
readiness to help businesses respond quickly to opportunities and react
appropriately to unplanned events. The clients are looking for world-class
service and support and domain experts who work closely with internal teams
to build comprehensive strategies.
The Players
Wipro has two kinds of remote models, one of which is for its global
customers based out of India as well as some global locations. The customers
however look for a dedicated offshore model with a clear focus on cost
arbitrage. India is obviously a preferred location because of the low cost
and quality resource availability. That is how the global market is running.
Within Wipro there are two divisions, Wipro Infotech that manages India
and Middle-East operations and Wipro Technology, which manages the global or
offshore operations including APAC, Australia, US, Europe and Japan. The
company has set-up a remote model for the domestic market in India, which is
located in Karnataka. From there it delivers remote services for India and
Middle East markets at a shared model concept.
HCL Technologies Infrastructure Services Division (HCLT ISD), also known
as HCL Comnet in the Indian market is one of the pioneers in offshore RIM.
HCLT ISD addresses not only the growing demand for cost-effective management
of IT infrastructure but also helps Fortune and Global organizations across
the world to transform their IT operations. For the last fifteen years we
have been supporting one of the worlds largest and mission-critical turfs
like stock exchanges and hence, managing real-time mission critical network
operations comprises our basic DNA, says Johri. HCL today provides
wing-to-wing of IT Infrastructure management services to its clients
including end-user computing; data center transformation; network;
information security and IT service assurance (ITSA) services in the global
and domestic markets which are delivered through its ISO 9002, ISO 27001 and
ISO 20000 certified operations management centers (OMCs).
Patnis remote infrastructure management solutions are based on a
sophisticated architecture that is open and scalable and which enables the
integration of vendor or customer-supplied toolseliminating a task that
stymies most companies. Patnis remote infrastructure management solution
goes beyond 24x7 monitoring to include proactive problem identification and
resolution. Built-in root cause analysis helps to identify and automatically
fix potential problems before performance is affected. Patnis remote
infrastructure management solution enables organizations to add, move, or
change IT components without disrupting service to users or requiring
resources to work off-shift.
Piyali Guha
piyalig@cybermedia.co.in |
Growing Presence of the Tier-2
While for the bigger IT services companies dominate the market, the RIM
opportunity is attracting many tier-2 IT services companies. They view it as an
opportunity that will help them grow their business significantly, especially in
the currently difficult business environment. As such, the opportunity is
attracting new players. Some of the smaller IT services providers who have been
growing their RIM business are listed in here.
|
Nasscom on RIM Opportunity for Indian Companies |
| According to IT industry body Nasscom, remote
infrastructure management could unleash the next largest wave of opportunity
in offshoring, similar to that provided by the application development and
maintenance (ADM) and BPO industries in the late 1990s. Convergence of
three independent forces has resulted in the rise of the RIM industryrapid
evolution in technologies and IT architectures, changes in customer
behaviors and demands, and developments in the vendor and offshore supply
environment, Nasscom says in a report. Nasscom estimates that the global
addressable market for RIM services stands at $96-104 bn. It believes that
up to $26-28 bn worth of IT infrastructure management services could be
offshored, out of which up to 50% or $13-15 bn is likely to be contributed
by India by 2013 (During 2005-08, RIM revenues in India more than tripled
from $1bn to $3.6 bn). Nasscom believes that India is well positioned to
capture a proportionate share of the RIM opportunity. In particular, the
experiences gained from the rise of the application development and
maintenance and business process offshoring industries, increasing
capabilities of India-based providers, management of low-cost talent, and
the country s reputation as the IT offshoring center of the world, support
this view. the industry body says. |
Remote infrastructure management business is also opening up new merger and
acquisition possibilities. For instance, the RPG group IT company, Zensar, has
identified RIM as the new area of promise and invested significantly in it. It
recently announced its intention to acquire IT companies in RIM services. Zensar,
which started these services three years ago, clocked revenues of Rs 30 crore in
2007-08 and Rs 70 crore in 2008-09. Another IT company, Hexaware Technologies,
has expressed interest in acquiring companies in this space.
The India Market Opportunity
According to various estimates, the Indian RIM services market would be
worth around Rs 550 crore in 2008 and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 30% over
the next five years.
During the initial years of the RIM services in India, Indian service
providers were only focused on selling their services to clients based in the US
or Europe. However, with the growing expansion of economy and business in India,
especially in tier-2 and -3 cities and towns, Indian companies also began
offering lucrative RIM business opportunities for the IT companies. For
instance, as both public sector and private banks expanded their operators to
small towns, one of the key challenges they had to encounter was the
availability of full time people resources and other IT support system (like
replacement of faulty hardware) to manage their IT infrastructure in these
locations. This challenge opened up opportunities for RIM service providers in
India.
| RIM
Business Value |
- Skill availability
- Better RoI on IT investments
- Risk mitigation
- Right sizing of the resources for increased business value
- Consolidation
- Effective and optimized portfolio of third party contracts
- Proactive support
- Reduced total cost of ownership
- Flexibility
- Improvisation of service level management
- Extended-hour global delivery for infrastructure outsourcing
|
The banking and financial services sector has been the early and possibly the
most extensive adopter of RIM services in India. Other key industries that have
seen adoption are manufacturing, pharmaceutical, retail, public sector,
education, and healthcare.
Moreover, the growing focus of small and mid-sized businesses on deploying IT
to grow their business, attain competitiveness and sustain profitability made
them look at IT as a strategic enabler of their business. For example, Madhav
Nagrik Sahakari Bank, one of the leading co-operative banks in the state of
Rajasthan, has signed a five-year IT outsourcing agreement with IBM. As part of
the agreement, IBM will host and manage the IT infrastructure to help the bank
focus on its aggressive expansion plans while reducing its huge capital
expenditure.
Ravi Shekhar Pandey
The author is senior manager, Springboard Research
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
|
Print
Comment
Email
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Twitter
