We will encourage Indian businesses to consider moving to a multi-cloud environment

Dell Technologies India recently collaborated with Centre of Excellence for Cybersecurity, Govt. of Karnataka. Their “Tech for Social Good” initiative, on cyber hygiene best practices which will also be made available in Kannada. Similar courses will also be curated for MSMEs and government bodies in Karnataka. 

In an interview Manish Gupta, Vice President and General Manager, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies India, tells us more. Excerpts:

Could you share highlights of the programme? How would these programs impact different stakeholders?

Dell Technologies has partnered with CySecK to build on cybersecurity strategies for the state of Karnataka. The partnership buds from a common foresight to enable the state and the businesses for a more cyber resilient future.  Under this partnership, we will have many programs running for various target groups. These include students, businesses of all scales and government bodies. Whether it is simplifying technology or guidance on best security practices, we will be able to cover a wide ground. Through this partnership, we intend to transform the people of Karnataka into data champions.

Under this partnership, we will run various programmes for different target groups identified by CySecK, which includes students, start-ups, MSMEs and government functionaries. Under our “Tech for Social Good” initiative, interactive courses on cyber hygiene best practices will be launched for school students which will also be made available in Kannada. Similar courses will also be curated for MSMEs and government bodies in Karnataka. 

Our ASCEND programme is designed to help start-ups thrive in the digital future, wherein we create awareness around innovative technologies, share strategic guidance, strengthen proven practical capabilities and offer expert consulting assistance – all under one unique programme. Through this programme, start-ups will be able to gain relevant exposure and assistance on aspects like go-to-market strategies, value additions to the products/ services, and promoting their scalability. 

We will also be conducting “Tech Teardown” sessions to simplify cyber-resilience for businesses of all scales. The programme will also feature 1:1 sessions with select start-ups to help them build a cyber security roadmap for business optimization and increase security of the supply chain ecosystem. 

What is the need for data skills at businesses? How can infrastructure upgrades help with digital transformation?

Technology is set to play an important role in unlocking a company culture shift toward data-driven decisions. However, the Dell Technologies Global Breakthrough Research reported that while 92% of Indian businesses regarded their people as their greatest asset, 78% of them acknowledged that the failure of their digital transformation programs is often due to their employees. 69% of the Indian employees stated that they did not have the motivation or energy to act on digital transformation in the workplace. This should alarm the Indian leadership especially as 77.3% of Indian employees expressed concern over not having the necessary skills to progress in digital transformation. Building a culture which upskills the workforce in data management and excites employees into becoming proactive IT enablers, will be beneficial to India Inc. Once we enable human capabilities with automation and consumption-based IT,  we will be able to create new opportunities and experiences which excite the workforce. 

Data continues to be the foundation of modern business models today. There is a need to upgrade mission-critical infrastructure to manage increased IT workloads and data transactions. Indian businesses continue to be in two-minds between infrastructure upgrades and IT strategies, but fail to realize that both need to go hand-in-hand to succeed in the digital era. Being digitally empowered will open the door for the exploration of new growth opportunities. Currently, the workload is sharply increasing which exposes the dire need of accelerating the digital transformation journey for organizations of all sizes. The right IT infrastructure solutions will enable Indian businesses to derive mission-critical insights from data, wherever it might be residing. 

With our broad portfolio of solutions, the right server, storage, cloud, and cybersecurity solutions will help shape the future for Indian businesses, turning them into profitable enterprises who take actions on the basis of cutting-edge insights, for mapping progress in the markets of tomorrow.

How are Indian businesses progressing with digital transformation? Do you feel Indian businesses will act on the insights from the Global Breakthrough report by Dell Technologies?

According to the Dell Technologies Global Breakthrough Report, about 84.8% employees from India worry that they will miss the opportunity to become a data-driven business and a staggering 69% believe that the business leadership does not know how to enable digital transformation. This should be a cause of worry to Indian businesses especially as we are set to unlock new opportunities with the arrival of 5G technology in the country. Without a data-first mindset, it is going to be an uphill journey for most of us - this not only includes businesses of all scales and sizes, but also public sector entities and privately owned cooperatives. Data is the currency of the internet economy and a critical asset that must be protected, managed, and be available at a moment’s notice. A successful digital transformation will only be possible when businesses are able to harness the transformative power of technology, to build the secure digital foundation needed to be ready for what’s next. 

We trust that the insights from Dell Technologies Global Breakthrough Report will help Indian businesses chart a plan for success in the era of digital transformation. More so, we believe that they will feel encouraged to collaborate with enterprise solution providers like Dell Technologies to ensure cutting-edge data management. According to Dell Technologies Global Data Protection Index research, around 84% of Indian businesses are willing to deploy as-a-service offerings to not only increase business agility but also simplify their digital transformation. With the right IT infrastructure solutions and data insights, businesses will be able to elevate their productivity to new heights and make sure they find purpose while delivering great outcomes.

What are the key challenges Indian businesses are facing currently in protecting themselves from cyber threats?

Indian businesses have undergone digitalisation at a massive scale within a very short time. While it has helped businesses function in a hybrid world, a tendency to undermine data management has taken root which will make Indian organizations vulnerable to threats and competition as we move further into the data era. One of the foremost challenges continues to be a myopic understanding of IT roadmaps. There is little budget allocated for infrastructure upgrade and future planning on IT strategies are an afterthought. Whenever Indian organizations invest in infrastructure, the business leadership misses out on building resilience and data science skills across verticals. The acute lack in understanding risks because of a “You can’t stop any event/ threats a 100%” approach is exposing critical data to malicious actors without businesses even realizing so. At the workplace, security functions do not work well with disaster recovery protocols. 

With a severely reactive security strategy, businesses lack accountability for their business continuity plans and disaster recovery framework. Hence, a fail-safe approach is absent. The Dell Technologies Global Breakthrough Report highlighted that 72% of Indian businesses regarded their employees as the weakest link cybersecurity areas. 37% of Indian employees admitted to not improving their security awareness or behavior after high-impact attacks. Regardless of the industry or size of the organization, cyberattacks continually expose business and governments to compromised data, lost revenue due to downtime, reputational damage and costly regulatory fines. Indian businesses need to immediately modernize and automate their recovery and business continuity strategies to detect and defend against cyber threats. 

What key launches are planned for the Indian market?

While we recently announced over 500 upgrades in our infrastructure storage solutions at Dell Technologies World Summit 2022, our upcoming launches will not only focus on sharing infrastructure solutions but will also strengthen their IT road-maps backed by Zero Trust strategies. 

Upcoming upgrades will not only improve intelligence, automation, data mobility and security across clouds, on-premises and edge environments but these solutions will also be available to our existing customers without additional costs. Our newest innovations would include edge solutions to strengthen organizational data management which will be announced in October. 

Ruggedized servers and edge applications for automated hardware management will be a key priority for the coming days. We will also encourage Indian businesses to consider moving to a multi-cloud environment to ease their progress in Industry 4.0