'A unique feature of our storage solutions is that it allows interoperability.'

A firm believer in giving buyers total value for money, PP Subramanian is
always present at the customer’s place while validating a solution. As Country
Manager of Hitachi Data Systems India, a 100 percent subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd,
his responsibilities include creating a channel to establish HDS as a brand. And
he has engaged only those partners who actually understand ‘solutions trading’
and are not people who are into box trading. A post-graduate in management
studies, Subramanian wants HDS to grow by four times in the current year.
Excerpts from the interview.

When did Hitachi Data Systems start its business in India and what is the
business model that it follows?

Hitachi Data Systems set up its liaison office in April 2001. By having an
office in India, we are giving our customers an assurance that we are directly
here to help them and give solutions to their complex requirements. There are no
standard packaged solutions for any organization.

IT infrastructure is something that grows within any organization as they
keep acquiring new devices. Which means they might have bought a new server or
they might have decided to change the application or they might be working
concurrently with three different databases, so every environment is different.
I have to be actually present at customers’ place in order to validate a
solution.

You just cannot do box sales, which is why we do business only through
exclusive channels. The kind of channel we have engaged in this business include
people who actually understand solutions trading and are not people who are into
box trading. I don’t have any of those large distributors who keep moving
number of boxes in a day.

We don’t do any direct business in India. But in the rest of the world we
also sell directly to customers.

Are there any specific reasons for going through channels in India?

The first reason is that India is huge. And secondly, Indian corporates work
out of relationship. Rarely you find them experimenting with new vendors. So it
is essential that you have to work with partners who have grown with corporates.

Who are your partners in India?

In India we have four partners. These are Lanbit, Amsel Infotech, Deltop
Systems and Tata Infotech.

Do you have any plans to add more partners?

I am not saying no, but it is difficult to find a partner who would work in
sync with what we want. So yes, we would add channel partners but will be very
selective.

What does HDS have to offer?

What we have today is boxes with the best technology. Apart from that we
have the ability to view a seamless integration with any infrastructure. The
Herculean efforts of migrating from one platform to another is enough to kill a
man. So, we don’t tell customers to change the way he does business. Instead,
we tell him just to work with us and we will weave the solutions into his
business.

What is unique about HDS solutions?

A customer can have multiple databases and multiple servers from various
vendors like HP, Sun or IBM. He can have backup software from somewhere else.
Here, if I supply my box and ask him to fix it himself it doesn’t solve his
problem and none of these existing vendors can solve his problem because all of
them might have some solutions but may not meet the full requirement. What I am
selling is storage box and along with it the ability to allow interoperability.
This is essentially what is unique about HDS solutions.

Under what name do you sell your boxes?

The logo is HDS for Hitachi Data System. We have two range of boxes: the
mid-segment and the enterprise class. Mid-segment is for companies with around
400-500 users, and the enterprise class for around 25,000 users. Mid-segment
capacity can scale up to about 21 terabytes and high-end can scale up to a level
of over 80 terabytes. The biggest box in India now might be carrying data of
around five terabytes.

Who are you looking at as your customers?

We are looking at telcos and large software development firms as our
prospective customers. Incidentally, after the WTC attacks, most of these large
software development firms have come under immense pressure from their customers
to work out for them a sound disaster recovery strategy. This trend which was
visible globally is now gaining prominence in the Indian context as well.

How many customers have you got till date?

As of now we have six MNC customers. We service the largest telecom company
in this country, we service the most respected software development house in
India and we service the largest storage software development center here.
However, I cannot reveal the names now.

How much are you satisfied with the partners that you have appointed so
far?

As far as our business is concerned, anybody selling our product should be
capable of understanding the customer’s applications, his storage
infrastructure, his user base, the kind of bandwidth customer has and so on. So
essentially, the partners that we have appointed are exceptionally good when
judged on these parameters. Because that is the only way one can offer the
customer an optimum solution.

In the world market where does HDS rank?

As far as technology is concerned, we are leading. However, on the
marketshare front we have to improve. Presently, we are placed at number two in
terms of marketshare. Incidentally, we are the fastest growing storage company
in terms of marketshare and terabyte share.

What growth are you expecting for HDS?

I am confident our growth would be at least four times the market growth.

What are your plans for India?

The plan is simple. We need to address the complex issue that IT managers
face. Some of these issues are tackled by IT managers, while others remain
un-addressed. So the strategy is, first, to help customers explore what he
needs, what he has, and then give solutions to protect his initial investment.
Two, allow him to scale. Three, allow him to operate with future devices which
he may add to his infrastructure. And four, make it completely manageable.

NELSON JOHNY in Mumba