🔊 Take a moment and listen

Hitachi Data Systems India Private Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan-based Hitachi Ltd. The company offers an integrated portfolio of services and solutions that enable digital transformation through enhanced data management, governance, mobility and analytics to its customers. Srinivas Rao, Sales Director – Government Business, Hitachi Data Systems India (HDS), shares the market experience and opportunities for the company, in an interview with T. Radhakrishna of Elets News Network (ENN).

Give us an overview of HDS and its business vision?

HDS offers an integrated portfolio of services and solutions that enable digital transformation through enhanced data management, governance, mobility and analytics. We help global organisations open new revenue streams, increase efficiencies, improve customer experience and ensure rapid time to market in the digital age. HDS powers the digital enterprise by integrating the best information technology and operational technology from across the Hitachi family of companies. We combine this experience with Hitachi expertise in the internet of things to deliver the exceptional insights business and society need to transform and thrive.

Today, the best examples for digital transformation are industries such as hospitality and cab. Both have transformed rapidly using the digital transformation technologies especially data analytics and mobile connectivity. The growth is evident across the globe. Incidentally, enterprises across the globe are under pressure for strengthening their business vision. There is no exception for public sector or the government.

As you know digital transformation is the profound and accelerating  transformation  of business activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact across society in a strategic and prioritised way.

Digital has raised customer expectations. They now expect a higher level of service from organisations.

There has been a lot of respect for Japan and its companies in India and globally. How do you see this scenario for HDS and its parent company?

India–Japan relations have traditionally been strong. For centuries, the people of India and Japan have engaged in cultural exchanges and are guided by common cultural traditions and share commitment to the ideals of democracy, tolerance, pluralism and open society. India and Japan, two of the largest and oldest democracies in Asia, having a high degree of congruence of political, economic and strategic interests, view each other as partners that have responsibility for and are capable of responding to global and regional challenges.

Being a 100% subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, we do collaborate with our parent company and sister subsidiaries and their knowledge resources, to provide solutions for our customers in India. In today’s scenario, collaborative approach will help us to offer better solutions. It also includes other valueadded services. There were numerous occasions, for example, we provide solutions suitable to Smart City and Digital India by collaborating with our parent company and other sister subsidiaries.

How do you see the Government of India’s programmes such as Digital India and Smart Cities Mission?

With the Government of India talking about Digital India and Smart Cities Mission, business opportunities in Government sector are enormous. We at HDS see these programmes are good opportunities for the company. We are closely observing the developments in Smart Cities Mission and will surely participate in these programmes under Digital India umbrella.

What is your business strategy for go-to market for HDS in India?

Our strategy for Go-To market is to collaborate with the ecosystem global and domestic partners such as System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and together offer end-to-end digital transformation solutions to the customers and also participate in tenders or bids. Our focus is on Information Management Infrastructure and Digital Transformation. For HDS, India market is a good example for collaborations and joint bids.

Which are the verticals HDS focusing on?

We focus on Banking Finance Securities and Insurance (BFSI), IT-ITeS, Telecom, and Government. BFSI is our biggest vertical followed by others.

What has been the market experiences of HDS so far?

We have made our presence strong in India by serving global customers here. HDS builds information management and social innovation solutions for business and social prosperity. Our IT solutions and services drive strategic management and analysis of the world’s data. We see business opportunities are growing in India.

The Government organisations are also thinking completely different. For example, HDS has collaborated with EPFO, a Government of India organisation, to provide digital transformation by facilitating seamless information management in the backend where the EPFO can digitise most of its services. Along with the home grown applications and partners, we have helped EPFO to digitally transform for providing better services to citizens.

We also worked with National Knoweldge Network (NKN) and MyGov.in projects.

The NKN is a multi-gigabit, whose purpose is to provide a unified high-speed network backbone for educational institutions in India. It is a hierarchical network divided into three basic layers – ultra-high speed CORE (multiples of 10 Gbit/s; Level 1), Distribution (Level 2), and Edge (speeds of 1 Gbit/s or higher; User Level). Depending on the type of connectivity required by the user organisation, geographical presence, and the location of Point of Presence (PoP) of NKN, (belonging to Core and Distribution), connectivity would be provided to the institutes. The network is designed to support Overlay Networks, Dedicated Networks, and Virtual Networks. Advanced applications in areas such as Health, Education, Science & Technology, Grid Computing, Bioinformatics, Agriculture, and Governance will be an integral part of NKN. The entire network will seamlessly integrate with the global scientific community at multiple gigabits per second speed.

Our vision is to investigate challenges facing society and customers together with the stakeholders, and together identify ways to resolve the issues.

Grid Computing, Bioinformatics, Agriculture, and Governance will be an integral part of NKN. The entire network will seamlessly integrate with the global scientific community at multiple gigabits per second speed.

MyGov is a citizen engagement platform founded by the Government of India to promote the active participation of Indian citizens in their country’s governance and development. It is also aimed at creating a common platform for Indian citizens to “crowdsource governance ideas from citizens”. The users shall be allowed to discuss and to contribute on various government projects and plans. It also allows users to upload documents in various formats. The website is hosted and managed by the National Informatics Centre.

For NKN, HDS has provided digital transformation platform and for MyGov. in, worked closely with NIC, in hosting the platform and managing the applications as well. For this project, HDS has provided backend information and infrastructure layers and will help to store and protect data and retrieve data as and when it required and provide seamless access to the information.

In your current position, what is your mandate?

I have over 25 years of experience in the industry. Being Sales Director for Government Business for India at Hitachi Data Systems India, I am responsible for re-aligning the sales organisation to drive relevance and revenues in the Government Vertical. I work closely with the team to build collaborative strategies to expand the engagement of Hitachi Data Systems India with Union and State Government entities by leveraging the expertise of consultants, technology partners, ISV partners and the partner ecosystem.

I joined HDS in 2001 as Senior Support Engineer with 17 years of extensive Technical experience in handling India Technical Operations, in terms Pre-Sales, Project Delivery and Support operations.

What are interesting things happenning at Hitachi?

At Hitachi Innovation, a lot of work is on in the areas of data analytics for various verticals, including agriculture, connected cars, Oil and Gas industry, etc. Our vision is to investigate challenges facing society and customers together with the stakeholders, and together identify ways to resolve the issues. By drawing on our vast experience and technology in societal infrastructure and information technology built-up over many years, we will provide the optimal solution. This broad range of technologies, knowledge and experience will be leveraged to challenge issues and develop innovative solutions for a better future.

Also Read: Hitachi Vantara: Combination of Tech, IP, Industry Knowledge to deliver data managing solutions

Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter, Instagram.