INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT: On High Priority

Not quite
similar to facility management as it was 3 years before,
infrastructure management (IM) solutions have started showing signs
of more maturity with more organizations opting for IM instead of
direct control. For any CIO today in any vertical (SMB or
enterprise), the task is now not only limited to securing the IT
facility and provide the optimum RoI over IT investment, but to plan
and execute solutions-both package requirements and tailor-made
needs to achieve the goals of the organization.

One of the
leading solution provider in the country, Valuepoint Systems, has
done remarkable work in the IM space. Ganesh Mahabala, VP, Valuepoint
Systems said, “On the IM front, we are seeing more growth in
automated management services (AMS) business over traditional IM. AMS
is giving the power to CIOs/CTOs/IT heads to get more out of IT admin
and also get faster, accurate reports on their IT assets, health and
help taking proactive measurements to ensure higher up time and
availability.” “As far as projects are concerned, one of the
example we can cite is one pharma company's deployment of automated
IM using an ES. It is roll out and maintenance of several hundreds of
netbooks to their pan-India spread sales force. If the customer had
used the traditional way of roll out-deliver and then install OS,
applications, drivers, patches, updates and then keep repeating them
manually over every support ticket. It would have caused them several
days to complete the rollout and a big team to maintain these end
points across the country. Today, using our AMS solution, this
customer could complete the roll out within few days and manage them
remotely with just 3 staff with complete asset management, OS and
application management and remote proactive support,” added
Mahabala. One of the strong SPs in this space is Frontier Business
Systems (FBS) which has a steady 10% contribution in its consolidated
revenue over the past 2 years. For FBS, apart from cloud services, IM
proved to be a topline generator as the company climbed up in the DQ
Channels' Silver Club. Also, for Progressive Infotech, IM
contributed to about Rs 40 crore of the topline with the SP keen to
focus over it in the coming fiscals. However, the giant leap in IM
solutions came in for QuantM Net Technologies (QNT) which registered
55 % y-o-y growth from where IM comprised 18% of the overall revenue.
As IM continues to feature as a top priority

for the SPs
considering the revenue it generates, the concept-evolution has been
commendable. For FBS, the latest concepts over which the SP has
worked is based on the increased demand from its clients for
integrated infrastructure management across multiple platforms, NW
and physical and virtual infrastructure. Although virtualization
echoed as the top related concept in IM, the increased focus over SLA
based contracts and the automation solution of routine infrastructure
management tasks worked well. For T and M contracts, however,
according to FBS, the fixed rate card model continues to be in vogue.
Also, for Targus Technologies, the same check applied in the last
fiscal. According to Progressive Infotech, efficient governance with
apt management tools and efficient monitoring system echoed as the
major trend. It arises from the client requirement of BI as well as
SaaS applications as controlled in the facility. In the words of QNT,
hybrid managed service is fast picking up in India which primarily
consists of remote infrastructure monitoring and management (RIM)
coupled with on-site support on all major technology platforms inside
any enterprise class data center. For QNT, the RIM concept has
renegotiated its 100% on-site FM contracts to give an average 20%
cost savings while improving the SLAs by a significant level.

Over the
verticals, nearly all major SPs remained the same focusing over the
commercial mid-market and enterprise. However, government also
accounted for a major topline contributor for BI as 3 SPs deployed
major projects in this vertical. Moving over to the major BI
deployments, Progressive ruled the chart with data center management
solution for a public sector enterprise deploying 65 personnel. This
followed Targus' Rs 3 crore deal in the education vertical across
7,000 classrooms.

However, for
the most innovative part, QNT has deployed its RIM in one of India's
leading multiplex chain to monitor and manage its IT infrastructure
across India. The multi-year contract covers complete monitoring and
management of the enterprise infra-structure including OS, databases,
middleware, messaging, servers, storage, power systems, net working
devices, retail POS machines and others. Other significant
deployments so far have been for Targus which has taken up a
multi-location IM solution for the military intelligence wing
followed by Progressive Infotech's airlines facility management
solution encompassing the back office, terminals and the schematic
process.

Also, the SP
went ahead to manage the network and data systems as well as provide
remote management services for a media house. QNT was the partner of
choice of a large energy consulting firm for comprehensive
outsourcing of its enterprise wide IT infrastructure management in a
mission critical SAP environment to deliver high SLA based services.
QuantM is delivering it with the help of its 24x7 NOC to monitor and
manage the network, Hardware layer, OS and all other layers of
customer enterprise setup. QuantM will be a key constituent of
client's ecosystem of technology partners that will provide the
foundation of its 'low- cost, high-value' business strategy.
According to Forrester Wave, global IT infrastructure management
services remain the most attractive by which enterprise customers can
achieve additional cost efficiencies in IT operations. But today's
market goes beyond cost savings to pursue transformation and
consolidation in IT infrastructure operations as customers prepare
for greater value in out sourcing.

As a result,
the market is poised for growth. After a setback in 2009, in which
the global market for IT outsourcing fell by 2.8% to $231bn, the
market rebounded in 2010, by growing at 2.8% to $237 bn with forecast
of $254 bn in 2011, a growth of 7.1%. Also, according to the report,
cloud based infrastructure services are looming. Cloud services like
infrastructure-as-a-service are among the most discussed services in
the market, but most of the current activity entails private cloud
solutions dedicated for single clients. Only a few infrastructure SPs
so far are offering real public cloud solutions with high flexibility
of changing baselines and pay-what- you- use pricing models.
Nevertheless, most infrastructure providers have recognized

that to
succeed, customers need consulting solutions for cloud readiness and
cloud integration and assessments. Some infrastructure providers are
offering infrastructure managed services including public cloud
solutions of third parties like Amazon or Google. While IT
infrastructure management and cloud solutions are still largely
separate, they are converging rapidly. Few customers today expect a
single provider to supply all of their IT infrastructure management
needs, and customers continue to favor a selective approach to out
sourcing involving multiple suppliers. Suppliers increasingly seek to
amplify their market presence by serving as a service integrator and
co-ordinating the activities of other suppliers. Indian off-shore
providers and the
largest traditional outsourcers also typically turn to partners for
physical dispatched services like deskside support.

Moreover,
with the imminent prediction about the cloud services to renovate IM,
the emerging cloud strategies are also allowing various suppliers to
pursue 'leapfrog' opportunities in cloud service aggregation and
brokerage. Forrester is of the view that while scale still provides a
benefit to suppliers seeking to span cloud deployment models across
private and public domains, cloud consulting and service packaging
opportunities are open to virtually all comers. With these trends in
place, in the next CY, FBS is focusing on consolidating and growing
its IM business on a continual basis by over 30% of its revenues. To
that end, FBS will be continually investing in resources in upgrading
its skill-sets and improving delivery efficiency. For Progressive
Infotech, although the current FY is deemed to be a flat one on
account of its exit mode from hardware business, services revenue is
deemed to grow by 20% in its Rs 40 crore pie. Similarly, QNT is
looking at IM becoming its one of the top 2 profit engines in CY12-13
along with cloud services, expecting it to contribute to more than
30% of its profits.