/dq/media/agency_attachments/UPxQAOdkwhCk8EYzqyvs.png)
Follow UsEmerging
enterprises across the country
are often on a firefighting mode as they grapple with IT
infrastructure challenges. They are beset with a myriad of
problems—lack of knowledge and adequate skillsets, little
strategic
know-how to align IT requirements with business processes or
technical knowhow to scale up
IT infrastructure and budgetary
constraints. In case of organizations in smaller cities (Tier 3 and
Tier 4), these problems get further enhanced; in addition to general
lack of availability of one or all of these, an overall lack of
exposure to the modern technical and business updates virtually make
IT a non-starter for most of them.
An
interaction with a few IT managers
from Kanpur expose
this lacuna vividly. When we are talking of IT
adoption even within emerging enterprises, there is a wide gulf in
maturity between the metros and other Tier 1 cities with the
hinterland. The issue of digital haves and digital have nots gets
ruthlessly exposed. While that gap might not get bridged all too
soon, the time has come to listen to some of the IT infrastructural
challenges faced by businesses in these smaller cities. Enterprises
in cities like Kanpur after all might be low on IT maturity, but at
least most of them agree on the benefits that technology can play in
boosting their businesses.
The
problems, might at first look,
appear too simplistic, but vendors and evangelists should keep in
mind that every journey after all begins at some starting point. Lack
of bandwidth, unreliable connectivity, security vulnerabilities, lack
of exposure to newer technologies are some of the common refrains.
Add to it issues like a non-IT savvy top management as well as users,
plus absolute dearth of technically skilled workforce. After all,
there are hardly any
IT departments or even IT
managers in many
cases; it is either the proprietor himself or some other line manager
who has been trying his hands on rudimentary levels of
computerization.
Nevertheless,
any condescending
attitude will not solve these problems. And, lest one gets carried
away, it's best to remember that many bigger enterprises in larger
cities too are often beset with similar challenges. In some cases,
these smaller organizations do have their unique but interesting
challenges. Take the case of Mohd. Irshad, CEO of GG Tanners. His
product pictures are uploaded on his company website and competitors
are copying those designs causing severe problems. “Everyone
told
me to publicize my designs through a website, but I am now losing
lots of business due to plagiarism,” he complains. The need
of the
hour is to make Irshad understand the intricacies of VPN and help him
adopt it, so that he can restrict access to his site to specific
users.
Or
take the case of Ravi Gupta, IT Head
of IA Leather. “We are majorly into exports and often our
business
suffers owing to security vulnerabilities,” he adds. While
basic
measures like anti-virus and firewall have been adopted, Gupta's main
problem is how to manage them as there are not enough skilled people
available. In such scenarios, they might have to innovate like taking
the services of the college student who was hacking networks of
different enterprises in Kanpur just for fun. It's best to utilize
his service and expertise now, before he gets a job and move out of
Kanpur. That in one word sums up the dilemma of IT infrastructure
optimization in a small city.