'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.