The market looks really good for Cloud Business. All sectors that we’ve been serving have bounced back and digital transformation has become a compulsion for everyone, says Piyush Somani, Managing Director and Chairman, ESDS Software Solutions Ltd.
ESDS Software Solution claims to be amongst India’s leading managed Cloud service and end-to-end multi-Cloud requirements providers. Will you please elaborate on how the journey has been so far?
I started ESDS 16 years back in Nashik with a few of my college mates and ex-colleagues, we decided to become business partners, which led us to take up the first project of offering web hosting support. Our team brought an Internet connection necessary to start an online managed services business with my father’s initial funding and support. In 2005, I applied for a private limited company, and hence ESDS was incorporated. In 2011, we launched our first Data Center in Nashik, Maharashtra. ESDS was also the first Company to offer a true Make-in-India Cloud in the nation in 2011 with the introduction of our in-house developed Cloud Platform, eNlight Cloud. In 2016, ESDS launched its second Data Center in Navi Mumbai, and 4 years later, ESDS launched its third Data Center in Bengaluru in collaboration with STPI (Software Technology Park of India). ESDS is also one of the few Data Center & Cloud Services providers, with its R&D Team comprising 175+ Members (As of June 30, 2021). Over the years, ESDS’ R&D Team has developed several products complementing ESDS’ Data Center & Cloud business. Today, ESDS is amongst India’s leading Managed Cloud Service & end-to-end multi-Cloud requirements providers (Source: Ken Research Report). We have built a comprehensive Cloud platform that our customers rely on, consisting of Cloud infrastructure well-architected solutions to reduce cost and provide safety, flexibility, scalability, and reliability to enterprises compared with the traditional on-premises IT models.
How has the pandemic affected your business over the last two years?
Pandemic had a severe impact on Sales function in its first 6 months, post that we’ve seen growth as per our expectations and now the market looks really good for Cloud Business. All sectors that we’ve been serving have bounced back and digital transformation has become a compulsion for everyone.
What are the latest trends driving businesses for ESDS?
ESDS’s growth depends upon the successful implementation and execution of its growth strategies, including capitalizing on the rising adoption of the cloud services market in India and abroad, enhancing collaboration with our partner ecosystem, and providing a comprehensive suite of offerings on our digital marketplace, SPOCHUB. E-Governance, Energy Efficiency initiatives like Smart Metering, Document management systems, automation systems, ERP, and Digital banking are some of the initiatives that are driving growth for ESDS in India.
How Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) has gained prominence in recent years? Will you please elaborate?
The IaaS model specializes in delivering Cloud computing infrastructure as an on-demand service. IaaS are self-service models for accessing, monitoring, and controlling remote Data Center infrastructures like storage, networking, networking services, etc. The role of an IaaS service provider is to provide the basic infrastructure necessary for hosting Cloud applications. A subscriber has control over the processing, storage, and platform-related choices. IaaS solutions are highly flexible, scalable, and accessible to multiple users (Source: Ken Research Report).
IaaS has been ESDS’ core business, and flash storage has been our Cloud services’ backbone. Partnering with premium brands such as Dell International Services India Private Limited allows ESDS an insight into their technologies, develops products collaboratively, and increases brand visibility and reach.
Which are the sectors making the most of ESDS Services and Solutions? Which sectors shall be your focus area in near future?
As a result of its diversified product offering and clientele, ESDS can cater to a wide range of industries, including BFSI, healthcare, education, energy and utilities, agriculture, manufacturing, entertainment & media, IT and ITES, and government departments. ESDS collaborates with Governmental and public sector organisations to offer SaaS offerings and Data Center solutions, which we term “G-SaaS.” As part of G-SaaS, ESDS provides services that include document and data migration to Cloud, software offerings on SPOCHUB, Data Center management, and backup servers for disaster management. Smart city applications are software applications that help the Government to optimize their expenses, provide deployment of software services and ensure data confidentiality. Sectors like Agriculture, Government, Banking, Manufacturing, and SMEs will have our major focus over the next couple of years.
How do you rate the current infrastructure that ESDS owns – the Data Centres? Will we have more such Data Centres across the country in the coming years?
ESDS operates its business through three Data Centers in India, one each in Navi Mumbai, Nashik, and Bengaluru. Our Data Centers cover, in aggregate over, 50,000 sq. feet across the three locations in India. Our Data Centers are connected on a 10 Gbps backbone network, providing a secure path for the exchange of information between different local area networks (LANs) or subnetworks) and is backed up with state-of-the-art disaster recovery services (Source: Ken Research Report). During the last three fiscal years, all our Data Centers, during their period of operation, have maintained an uptime of at least 99.995%.
In the past, ESDS has expanded and upgraded its existing Cloud infrastructure. We are also exploring setting up new Data Centers in India in locations that may include Mohali and Navi Mumbai.
What differentiates your Data Centres from other Data Centres in the country – especially when it comes to cyber-security?
ESDS Data Centers are connected by a 10 Gbps backbone network and are backed up with disaster recovery services. During the last three fiscal years, all our data centers, during their period of operation, have maintained an uptime of at least 99.995%. QSA International Limited has granted our Data Centers “Tier III” status.
Data centers operating in India have sought policy support and incentives, such as industry status, a reduction in goods and services tax (GST), and concessions for adopting green technologies, from the Union budget this year. Your comments, please?
The FY-22 union budget gives a massive boost for the Data Center sector, as the Data Center sector has been given infrastructure status. This will help Data Center operators get long-term debt at a much lower cost. Ambiguity around Data Center operations would also ease out. This allows the Data Center operators to buy power from multiple power discoms, eventually helping avoid monopolies, high tariffs, and dependencies. We believe that these decisions will amplify the growth of data localization and the Data Center industry overall. The Budget rightly focuses on amplifying the digital currency with correct measures and initiatives. Overall, the Budget brings hopes for the Data Center sector and the Digital rupee.
