'Indian storage mkt underdeveloped'

For creating more awareness on the benefits of networked storage and concepts

like information lifecycle management (ILM), EMC is tying up with technical

education institutes. Joel Schwartz, senior VP and GM, Midrange Systems

Division, EMC spoke to Ravi Shekhar Pandey of CyberMedia on storage market in

India and the EMC Academy program. Excerpts:

How do you view the current market for networked storage in India?



EMC has grown exponentially in the Indian market in the past year and we are

now number one in India. However, we are a very small number one as the

potential market in India is huge and we have been able to exploit only a small

fraction of that. The concepts of networked storage and ILM are well understood

and acknowledged in India. And the issue is not that corporations here don't

want to spend on storage. The issue is the type of storage they would like to go

for. A major drawback of the Indian market is that the concept of networked,

shared storage is not as widely adopted in India as it is in the rest of the

world.

How are you going to exploit that potential?



EMC plans to enter into tie ups with engineering colleges and universities

in India to introduce IT storage—related curriculum in their courses. The

education program is an initiative from EMC to address the shortfall of storage

professionals in our country. The educational initiative is also being unveiled

in India because EMC has a significant portion of its workforce based in this

geography.

Joel Schwartz

We need to educate the engineers and other technical guys who are part of the

IT department. And the best time to catch them is when they are going through

their education. We decided to pilot the EMC Academy program in a big way in

India because the market is so underdeveloped here. We thought it's important

to create awareness. So the basic objectives of the program are to raise

awareness and provide an opportunity to educational institutions to offer

education on storage. Moreover, with specialized training in storage, engineers

can become more marketable.

Is the EMC Academy program modeled along the training and certification

programs by Cisco, Microsoft, and IBM?



The program is modeled after those vendors' programs. However, we will

have features that would make our program unique. It would not be a

revenue-generating exercise for EMC.