How Cloud-based card issuance solutions benefit Indian businesses

The emergence of cloud technology in India has been on an upward climb in the last couple of years, with even government organizations going digital since 2018. There are a number of reasons for this conscious shift and preference towards cloud-based solutions – enhanced security, ease of access, better control over sensitive or classified information being some of them.

India has over $53 million SMBs contributing to over 37% of the country’s GDP and employing over 117 million people; out of which 43% of these businesses are tech-enabled. Along the same lines, cloud-based card solutions have transformed sectors such as Banking and Finance, Security Issuance, Healthcare, and Education among others. In the past these sectors used ID cards as simple devices to prove identity. Now, it has transitioned into a means to securely access IT systems, networks, data and much more.

Two major reasons for the fast uptake of cloud-based card solutions in India can be attributed to:

• Enhanced user experience: Unlike the traditional way of designing and printing ID cards that were connected to a nearby printer and demanded a person to physically verify details, with cloud-based card platforms, all the elements required for secure issuance are brought together into a centralized and integrated system. This has enabled the entire process to be managed and executed remotely end-to-end, right from design and encoding to printing. An administrator sitting in a remote location can seamlessly create new cards, encode data on them, issue replacements and manage print queues; and all of this can be done using a tablet, laptop or any device with a web interface.

• Economical execution: Cloud-based platforms have also simplified billing models on an annual or monthly-installment basis – hardware, software and service all in one offering. This has cut multiple layers of program costs making it cost-effective and providing an opportunity to accommodate future technology. It has also streamlined supply when in demand to avoid unnecessary expenses. There are a lot of unpredictable ancillary costs associated with owning and managing hardware and software by eliminating costs related to maintaining hardware, inventory, labor, and potentially the capital expenditure related to purchasing printers excluding the cost of human resource and IT operation. Cloud-based solutions have helped reduce unpredictability dramatically.

In the wake of COVID-19, the whole of India’s white-collar population is working from home. This has in-turn lead to decision-makers re-looking at their existing security systems. The realization and the need to shift to the cloud is on the rise now more than ever. Cloud-based card issuance solutions will be able to give back both time and money while re-envisioning the way India’s IT workforce operates in 2020 and beyond.

By Lalit Agarwal, Director of Sales, HID Global