Mumbai based Sigma-Byte Computers, is one of the largest ICT integrators of India has undergone major transformation from pure play integrator to ICT integrator. Ketan Kothari, Managing Director Sigma-Byte, a veteran in structured cabling system in an exclusive interview to CRN talks about emerging trends and how trends like Fibre Data center, mobility and software defined infrastructure creating more opportunities for structured cabling industry..Read more
How structured cabling market is gaining traction in mid to large companies. What are the factors behind its growth in India?
Structured cabling is part of infrastructure for any size of enterprise be it mid or large enterprise. Hence the growth of SCS marked it directly linked to Infrastructure growth in India. We are witnessing sizeable growth or expansion in the office space absorption by mid and large enterprises and this coupled with Data Center growth in India is driving the overall growth for SCS market.
How do you see the growth of the system integration business in structured cabling?
SI market for SCS business is becoming extremely cost driven for enterprise segment and but in the specialised verticals like Data center, Smart Cities etc. SIs with specialised skills, certification and experience are witnessing good growth.
What is your area of specialization in network infrastructure and key segments you cater to?
We have design experts who have certifications like RCDD, DCDC, CFHP which allows us to design and build any kind of complex SCS infrastructure. We would probably be only SI in the country to have all these expertise in-house. Our specialization is in building large campuses, Data Centres, IT/ITES Labs and multi-use large infrastructures.
Can you name some of key customers or ongoing projects around structured cabling?
We have signed NDAs with all the key customer and hence we cannot name them but I can say that we service the largest private sector enterprise in India, we service the largest multi-tenant Data Center Organization, we have built data center for one of the largest e-retail organization in India and we service some of the largest MNC banks and IT/ITES organizations in India.
What sort of Y-o-Y growth you witness coming from this line of business. You see any major trends which have fuelled the growth in your business.
We are witnessing over 30% YOY growth for us in the SCS business for last 2 years though. In absence of any industry certified growth numbers, I believe the industry seems to be growing at around 12-14% YOY. The major trends are 1) Acceptance of CAT6A cabling for enterprise segment 2) Hyperscale Data Center cabling infrastructure 3) Fiber to the Home (FTTH) or rather Fiber to everything (FTTx) 4) Other Services like BMS, Physical Safety & Security moving towards complete IP based solution.
What are your expansion plans with respect to this business in terms of revenue and adding capabilities?
We expect our business to grow by another 25 to 30% in SCS market in the FY 19-20. We have been investing specialised standards based trainings for our field teams and industry certifications for our Pre-Sales and Project management teams. We have added more than 100 people to the workforce and have enhanced our delivery capabilities significantly. With these addition we have more than 400 people on roll with another 300 on full time contract with us.
With the emerging 5G networks in India telcos are looking for special fibre cables which provide high-bandwidth. Can you talk about your preparedness?
We have trained and experienced resources that can deploy high bandwidth and high fibre count cables. We have executed projects where a Single fibre cable of 1728 core has been installed.
Can you share some of the best practices you follow while taking up any large projects?
We follow BICSI Cabling guidelines and standards along with best of the project management standards while executing large projects. Additionally we have stringent QA/QC guidelines and every large project is audited by internal Quality Auditor to ensure our QA/QC guidelines are met. We are ISO 9001: 2015 certified organization for all lines of business across all branches. While an ISO audit is mandatory every year, we have voluntarily opted for six monthly ISO audit by TUV to ensure our quality process are stringently followed across all branch.
Can you talk about changing customer’s requirement with respect to structured cabling
Customers are looking at solutions which are flexible and scalable. There is an increased emphasis on building device independent IP infrastructure which can support wireless, IOT, BYOD requirements.
How do you see the growth of this segment in the next 3-4 years?
I believe this industry will continue to grow in the range of 10-12% in general and in specific segments like Data Centre infrastructure it should grow in the range on 20 to 25%.
