An EMC-Zinnov White Paper highlighting the pace at which Private cloud market is growing in India. Majority of CIOs perceive cloud computing as the way forward and have already started adopting/ evaluating cloud computing in the IT environments. CIOs are increasingly looking to invest in applications & infrastructure services (IaaS, Private/ Hybrid Cloud & Virtualization) in terms of cloud adoption.
2. Private Cloud Landscape in India
C ONTENTS
Contents
1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 2
2. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3
3. Cloud Landscape in India ....................................................................................................... 5
4. Challenges of Private Cloud Adoption...................................................................................20
5. Key Recommendations .......................................................................................................211
6. Sources...............................................................................................................................244
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IT-BPO spend in India has continued to grow over the last 5 years and has become the world’s fastest growing
IT-BPO market in FY2011 (growth rates of 21%). The large US$29 billion market is heavily dominated by
hardware & IT services accounting for more than 75% of the market value
While IT budgets across verticals continue to increase, Cloud computing is expected to reshape the Indian IT
market by generating new opportunities for the IT vendors and driving changes in traditional IT offerings. The
rapidly growing enterprises, vast base of SMBs and government adoption are driving the growth of this sector
Majority of CIOs perceive cloud computing as the way forward and have already started adopting/ evaluating
cloud computing in the IT environments. CIOs are increasingly looking to invest in applications & infrastructure
services (IaaS, Private/ Hybrid Cloud & Virtualization) in terms of cloud adoption
The total cloud market in India currently stands at a US$ 400 million and is expected to reach a market value
of US$ 4.5 billion in the next 5 years. This would result in the increase of cloud contribution from the current
1.4% to 8.2% of the total IT-BPO spend in India by 2015
While both public and private cloud adoption is rapidly growing in the Indian market, challenges around
security, vendor lock-in, location of data center, and concerns around governance and auditing are restraining
the growth of public cloud. More matured enterprises are also increasingly looking to adopt hybrid cloud
models
Private cloud market is fast growing in India and has already reached a market value of US$ 312 million in
2010. It is further expected to grow at a rapid pace of over 60% over the next five years to reach US$ 3.5
billion in market value by 2015
IT-ITeS, Telecom, BFSI, Manufacturing and Government are the early adopters of cloud computing (both
private and public in India). Other verticals such as healthcare, retail and education are also emerging in the
adoption of cloud technologies
Realizing the huge market potential , several companies are competing aggressively to grab a share in the
lucrative cloud computing market. More than 2/3rd of the global cloud services companies already have a
direct presence in India for its services for Indian enterprises
The fast growth of this segment is also expected to positively influence the employment market in India.
Private cloud market in India currently generates more than 10,000 jobs (direct + indirect) and is expected to
add another 100,000 jobs in the next 5 years
The evolution of key drivers has nurtured the first phase of growth for private cloud market in India. Current
market dynamics indicate strong momentum, supporting a positive outlook. Targeted actions by key
stakeholders across key themes will help accelerate the next phase of growth, and enable the annual revenue
aggregate of this segment to reach US$ 3.5 billion by 2015
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2. I NTRODUCTION
Cloud Computing, as agreed upon by most of the technology companies and CIOs, is a transformational phase of IT.
The concept of computing as a utility, which would transform the IT industry and would also impact the way computing
services are delivered and consumed, is a reality now. The Cloud offers the potential to make software more attractive
as a service and is redefining the way IT hardware is designed and procured. Cloud has enabled companies to eliminate
large capital investments in hardware to deploy their service or resources to operate it.
The concept of Cloud computing is not only restricted to enterprises and businesses, applications & platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zynga, Groupon etc. have enabled millions of consumers to connect, share and leverage
technology to enhance their life experiences. These platforms are different shapes of the Cloud and related
technologies which enables rapid scalability and reach.
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal technology agency that works with industry to
develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards defines service and delivery models of cloud computing:
Service Models
• Infrastructure as a Service - The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage,
networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to run arbitrary software
• Platform as a Service - The capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure
consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the
provider
• Software as a Service - The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider’s applications running
on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client
interface
Delivery Models
• Public Cloud : The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is
owned by an organization selling cloud services
• Private Cloud : The cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the
organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise
• Hybrid Cloud : The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public)
that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables
data and application portability
• Community Cloud : The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations, supporting a specific
community
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Global Market Dynamics
While in the backdrop of global economic meltdown the IT investments have taken a hit globally, cloud computing has
gained wide interest across all segments of enterprises, small & medium businesses (SMBs) as well as consumers. The
most attractive feature of this new technology is the prospect of converting large, upfront capital investments in IT
infrastructure into subscription or annuity based payments. IT is increasingly being looked at as strategic investment
rather than just a cost item in the profit and loss account. There is a huge pressure on IT companies to demonstrate
better value, efficiency and innovation in products & services .
As a result, the worldwide cloud revenues are proj ected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years. Private cloud revenues
currently account for 83% of the overall cloud revenues and its share is further expected to increase going forward.
While software-as-a-service (SaaS) will continue to contribute to the overall revenue; its share is expected to decline,
largely due to an increased focus on purchase of infrastructure and infrastructure related services. The key driver for
the fast growth of cloud infrastructure is the increased focus from businesses on reducing the huge costs associated
with IT infrastructure.
Exhibit 1: Worldwide IT Cloud Revenues
While developed economies such as US, UK, and Japan have been at the forefront of technology innovations, the
advent of newer technologies in the form of cloud computing (with the rise of telecommunications and the internet)
have formed a level playing field in emerging markets such as India & China. This leveling has helped in creating
innovators and early adopters of cloud computing from these markets.
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3. C LOUD L ANDSCAPE IN I NDIA
India, a nation with a population of more than one billion, has been rapidly growing its GDP at an average rate of more
than 8% over the last 7 years. India’s strong GDP growth has attracted heavy foreign investments in the country by FIIs
(Foreign Institutional Investors). As per SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) estimates , the total FII
investment in India in the year 2009-10 rose to US$ 30 billion from a divestment of US$ 9.9 billion in the previous year
(the year of the global economic downturn). This is a testimony to the fact that the Foreign Institutional Investors have
poured inflows heavily to bet on the Indian growth story. As a result, the Indian stock market has bounced back very
early from the economic slowdown.
While the economic growth is showing signs of fast recovery, efforts are being made by both the government and the
large enterprises to bridge the gap between technology generation and adoption by the targeted end
users/consumers. The technology infrastructure is being expanded by relevant stakeholders to cater to the needs of
the ever growing market demands. As a result, there is an increased spending on technology which further encourages
introduction of newer technologies, ultimately leading to the IT investment growth of the country.
The teledensity in India as per TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has already reached 62.51% (including both
wired and wireless connectivity, as on October, 2010) and the total active internet consumers has crossed the 80
million mark with an annual growth rate of about 40%. With the advent of newer technologies like 3G, WiMax,
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) etc., the penetration is further likely to propel. The introduction of newer
technologies is augmented by the rapid infrastructure overhaul viz. the government’s commitment to lay a 500,000 km
Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) network to reach every single corner in the country.
Exhibit 2: Total Domestic IT-BPO Market in India
The Indian IT domestic market will continue to be dominated
by hardware and IT services accounting for more than 75%
of the total revenues.
Aggressive government focus continued IT investments by
matured verticals along with Greenfield initiatives by
emerging verticals are fueling the growth of IT adoption in
India in FY2011.
Not only has the overall understanding of business
improved, services are now more closely delivered. Domestic
IT industry will continue its growth unabated in FY2012 with
enterprises focusing on flexibility and OPEX models
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Emergence of disruptive and innovative technologies such as virtualization, cloud computing, service oriented
architecture (SOA), enterprise mobility and 3G have resulted in new use cases for IT adoption. Moreover, these newer
technologies are affordable, scalable, & reliable and allow users to achieve higher business value.
As a result the total Domestic IT-BPO market in India is expected to grow at 21 percent in FY2011, making it the fastest
growing markets in the world. Total domestic IT-BPO is expected to reach US$ 29 billion in FY2011 from a total market
size of US$ 24 billion in FY2010. Manufacturing, BFSI, Telecom, and Energy along with Government continue to account
for the majority of IT investmetns in India. In mature verticals like Telecom, IT budgets have remained the highest in
2010 as percentage of revenues.
IT budgets are continuing to increase for Indian enterprises across verticals. Increase in IT budgets reflects positive
attitude of decision makers towards IT adoption and a change in mindset from it being a cost item to a business
enabler. Indian enterprises are starting to show signs of recovery with respect to their IT spending.
Exhibit 3: Potential Areas of IT Investments by Indian Enterprises
Cloud computing is expected to reshape the Indian IT market by generating new opportunities for the IT vendors and
driving changes in traditional IT offerings. Companies are gaining more experience with cloud and they are realizing the
important value it can bring to their business. Customers today are more established and knowledgeable buyers of
cloud solutions. Enterprises and SMEs are transitioning into clouds to increase business a gility and reduce cost.
The uptake has been led by the aspiring Indian enterprises’ increasingly competing in the global markets and
planning their IT strategies with enhanced focus. Number of Indian enterprises featuring in the FORBES 2000
list has already increased from 33 to 56 over the last 5 years
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India is home to the second largest SMB base in the world with ~35 million companies. Their current focus
includes standardization of processes and aligning IT to the business for operational efficiency and global best
practices
Central and state governments have also been aggressive with their IT investments in massive e-governance
projects. Government is committed to invest US$ 7.45 billion over the next 5 years to provide better citizen
services. Technology & cloud services will form the backbone for last mile reach and efficient delivery of these
services
The huge “Native to IT” population with less than 25 years of age, exposed to IT in home, schools and colleges
is currently leading the evolution of IT consumerization in India. As these users join the workforce, they would
increasingly demand IT solutions and services towards enhanced efficiency
Exhibit 4: Hardware Spending in India and Datacenter Market
While IT hardware spending is expected to increase by 20 per cent in FY2011, demand for IT modernization in verticals
such as BFSI & Telecom, interoperability & converged networks and
data digitization in large enterprises, Public Sector Units and SMBs
along with rising spend in Government projects will drive the growth Manufacturing and IT/ITES contribute to
for cloud ready infrastructure in India. almost 80 percent of the revenues of third
party datacenters
Companies are increasingly showing interest in realizing full • The fast growth of captive datacenters is
potential of cloud adoption by undergoing rapid business driven by the manufacturing and BFSI
transformation, automation & digitization. Mature enterprises with industries
well-established IT infrastructure are focusing on optimization using
the concepts of virtualization and green computing. Continued
investments in State Data Centers (SDCs) and implementation of data intensive projects like UIDAI (Aadhaar) by the
government are further growing the market.
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Exhibit 5: Association with the Word Cloud
As a result, Cloud Computing is no longer considered just a concept by most CIOs. Majority of CIOs perceive cloud
computing as the way forward and have already started adopting/ evaluating cl oud computing in the IT environments.
From a sample of 100 CIOs interviewed across verticals, 54% have already evaluated cloud computing and another 36%
are planning to do so in the near future. Awareness of cloud as a technology and accompanying business models is
increasing among the large enterprises in India. CIOs associate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure (IaaS,
Private Cloud & Virtualization) most commonly with the word cloud and have shown inclination towards the same
Exhibit 6: Cloud Computing Service Interest in the Near Future
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While public cloud extends the business benefits to its users, there are certain key challenges with respect to its rapid
adoption. These challenges are restraining the growth of public cloud to only basic non-core applications such as email,
collaboration tools and CRM etc. CIOs are still contemplating the use of private cloud over public cloud to ensure that
they derive the maximum business benefits from this emerging and fast growing technology. Below are some of the
key challenges associated with the usage of public cloud offerings:
Security: Potential security issues due to multitenant nature of public clouds. There are security and
privacy concerns with sharing same physical hardware with unknown parties that need to addressed
Vendor Lock In: Cloud computing services offered by different vendors are not governed by any
standards as of today. Depending on the vendor, the applications have to undergo changes to adapt
to the service
Location of Data Center: Public cloud data center being located in an area prone to flooding or other
natural disasters increases the risk for the company. Ex. Aditya Birla is moving to private cloud and
prefer datacenter to be located in India for security concerns and once they reach maturity level with
vendor support the Documents on security, SLA etc then they may take call irrespective of data
center located globally
Corporate Governance and Auditing: Performing governance and auditing activities with the
corporate data abstracted in the public cloud poses challenges, that are yet to be addressed
Exhibit 7: Preference of Datacenter by Indian Enterprises
Most of Indian CIO’s would
prefer to have the data centers
located in India and run by
MNC service providers
Large and mid-sized enterprises are increasingly indicating that they plan to implement private clouds due to issues
related to data security and performance (latency) with the public cloud. A significant number of CIO’s are now willing
to leverage Cloud services & the trend will only increase in 2015. Large enterprises, instead of using 3 rd party
datacenters, are willing to use their own datacenter to provide hosted services to employees & customers, in what is
called a private cloud. For them, private clouds work better because they are more reliable, with network uptime under
the company’s control, and are more secure, because the security systems are managed by the company.
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11. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Exhibit 8: CIOs Willingness to Use Cloud Services
Cloud as a model addresses key pain points of traditional IT such as underutilized IT infrastructure, application &
infrastructure silos, compatibility of various platforms and environments, as well as inflexibility by making IT more
efficient and agile. Private cloud is becoming an ultimate deployment model for many enterprises to ensure better
security and access to information and offers a significant enhancement in efficiency and cost savings as opposed to
traditional IT environments.
Exhibit 9: Private Cloud ROI
Potentially can
go up to 50%
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12. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Private cloud deployments could result in a potential savings of 18-20% on the IT investments on an average. This could
even be higher (up to 50%) depending on the level of IT modernization that happens in the organization over a period
of time. Cost savings are realized across the following key areas.
Telecom & networking: The increase in data services cost is offset by reduction in networking hardware due
to consolidation
Facilities & fabric: Datacenter size and power consumption is reduced as the hardware is consolidated
Hardware: Reduction in x86 server and storage costs as a result of consolidation
Software: Reduction in software cost as better multi -tenant applications replace enterprise applications
Internal labor: Steep reduction in internal labor cost as the management of datacenter is consolidated and
automated. Lesser maintenance of datacenter required
External IT services: Reduction in IT services due to right-sizing datacenter and configurations
Some of the large enterprises have even matured on their journey to the private cloud that they are now
contemplating the use of a hybrid cloud (i.e. a combination of public & private cloud) where they can choose what
resources they want to manage in-house and allow others to be managed externally. Large companies are putting only
non-critical applications such as CRM (customer relationship management), lead management and human resource
into public clouds. Ex. Axis Bank’s has put non-critical lead management data into the IaaS, but not core banking
Exhibit 10: Cloud Market in India
As a result, the private cloud market in India accounts for 78 per cent of the total cloud spend largely driven by
infrastructure, infrastructure services and software applications running in a private cloud scenario . Basis the fast
adoption that is evident in the Indian market, private cloud market is expected to grow a rapid pace of over 60% over
the next five years to present a cumulative market opportunity of more than US$ 8.8 billion for the players across the
stack.
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13. Private Cloud Landscape in India
The growth would largely be driven by the increased maturity of Indian enterprises towards cloud computing and CEO/
CIO mandate for an enterprise wide cloud strategy. The combined cloud services market (including public & private) at
the same time would increase to US$ 4.5 billion from the current US$ 0.40 billion accounting for more than 3% of the
global market from the current 0.3%.
Exhibit 11: Private Cloud Market Forecast in India
Similar to global market dynamics, the share of private cloud in India is a high percentage of the overall cloud spending.
Below are some of the key trends in the way IT investments would move going forward:
Applications: Will move from single tenant, monolithic applications to multi -tenant applications, with elated online
experience and running on next generation systems
Servers will move from dedicated servers and clusters to virtualized dedicated servers. Sever virtualization and
consolidation to become mainline. Reduced space requirements, power and cooling costs
Storage will move from DAS/SAN to virtualized storage. Focus will be more concentrated on optimized storage
Application Development & Deployment (Information & Data Services) will move from data islands to data
integration based on SoA frameworks and master data management. Movement of application servers, databases, and
middleware to virtualized platforms
Infrastructure Software will move from dedicated software to common pooling for the datacenter environments
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Exhibit 12: Cloud Spending Contribution in Total IT Investments
Year 2010 2011E 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E
Total IT Spend (US$ Bn) 28.8 33.5 39.0 44.4 49.8 54.7
Total Public Cloud Spend
0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.9
(US$ Bn)
Total Private Cloud Spend
0.3 0.5 0.9 1.5 2.3 3.6
(US$ Bn)
Total Cloud Spend (US$ Bn) 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.9 2.9 4.5
Cloud Spend as %age of
1.4% 2.0% 2.9% 4.2% 5.8% 8.2%
Total IT Spend
The overall environment of cloud adoption in India is fast evolving and is expected to account for a significant share in
the total IT spend of the small, medium and large enterprises. According to most of the CIOs, out of the total IT budgets
for a year, 70% is utilized for maintenance and upgrade of existing/ legacy infrastructure and about 30% investments
are towards new purchases of hardware, software & associated services. It is estimated that about 26% of these new
investments would be focused on cloud related purchases by 2015. While on one hand companies will look for cloud
enablement of their existing IT infrastructure, they will continue to invest in new infrastructure architecture on cloud
technologies.
Exhibit 13: Vertical Wise Spending on Cloud Services (Both Private/ Public) in India
Many of the key verticals including IT-ITeS, BFSI, Telecom, Manufacturing and Government already spend a significant
percentage of their IT investments into cloud related areas. Manufacturing industry and Government is now opening
up to standardization of business processes and IT systems with the help of cloud infrastructure. Other verticals such as
energy, healthcare, retail and education among others also present a sizable opportunity in the India market. While the
Cloud could benefit all sectors in one way or the other, the impact will be fairly emphatic in certain sectors. Flexibility,
interoperability and scalability are some the benefits of Cloud services that would be commonly experienced in any
industry sector.
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Exhibit 14: Drivers for Cloud Infrastructure Adoption in India
Banking, Financial Services and Insurance:
Enterprises in the fast growing BFSI sector are exploring cloud
storage and compute power to handle massive amounts of real Tata Communications has cloud
time core/ non-core banking data and minimize outages services known as InstaCompute and
Cost sensitivity of mid-market BFSI enterprises and need for InstaOffice. These offerings target the
migration to mobile/ internet platforms to attract new Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and
customers is forcing them to look at cloud infrastructure Software as a Service (SaaS) verticals.
With the availability of solutions tailored to the needs of InstaCompute cloud computing
security and regulatory compliance in the BFSI industry, the services will be provided out of tier 3
adoption in the public sector banks will also increase in the data centers in Hyderabad and
future Singapore
Examples of adoption (Both Public & Private Cloud): Yes Bank,
Mahindra Finance, India Infoline, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank
Telecommunications:
Telecom companies are witnessing rapid growth in the subscriber base and with 3G/ BWA roll out, the need
for data services, data maintenance and data storage would increase multi -fold and would continue to
leverage cloud benefits to support growth
Enterprise telecom firms are focusing on optimizing their operations to improve efficiency and increase their
margins. Managed services, for e.g. is heavily being explored by major telecom providers in India
Examples of adoption: BSNL, Airtel, Aircel, Tata Telecommunications, Reliance Communication etc.
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Exhibit 15: Examples of Private Cloud Adoption in India
IT/ITeS:
Shrinking development cycles, need to support multiple platforms and focus on non-linear business models is
mandating increased use of efficient and scalable infrastructure
The customers for IT-ITeS companies are fast evaluating cloud offerings and look for partner competencies in
this space. This is forcing IT-ITeS companies to invest in talent pool creation, test labs with cloud
infrastructure, etc. which in turn is resulting in the fast growth of cloud adoption in this sector
The IT-ITeS companies are also leveraging their services expertise to coin new infrastructure services offerings
on cloud and partnering with global ISVs and platform providers for comprehensive offerings
Examples of adoption: Wipro, Infosys, TCS, HCL, Patni, Vembu Technologies etc.
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17. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Manufacturing:
Enterprise manufacturing firms already have significant investments in IT infrastructure. While their
requirements for computing systems are likely to remain high, many firms are now aggressively focusing on
streamlining and efficient IT. Virtualization and cloud enablement of existing infrastructure is expected in this
sector
Upfront infrastructure investment is a big challenge for the vast base of SMB manufacturers and hence are
considering cloud infrastructure to enhance competitiveness
Need for improved collaboration between employees, customers, supply chain spread across geographical
boundaries is forcing fast adoption of cloud technologies
Examples of adoption: L&T, Bajaj Electricals, Aditya Birla Group, Dabur etc.
Government:
Riding high on citizen services as part of the national e-governance program, Indian government is looking to
set up various data centers across the country
Right to education, financial inclusion, right to information etc. will be forcing the government to invest into IT
infrastructure that will support the efficient delivery of these services
Government is also aiming to standardize common processes and ensure adherence to standards across the
municipal, state and central government & affiliated bodies, and hence eliminating long and complex
procurement cycles
It is also planning to invest in National Cloud Computing Platform (NCCP) to reduce project implementation
timelines and resource wastage
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18. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Examples of adoption: SDCs, J&K, Haryana and Orissa Government, National Cloud Computing Platform
(NCCP) etc.
Healthcare:
The number of hospitals adopting e-health records and other digitized clinical systems is increasing rapidly in
India
Storage systems like 3-D medical imaging and health information exchanges are looking to provide more
efficient ways to share data
The provision of telemedicine to reach to even the most rural areas in India and medical tourism is further
fueling the growth of IT infrastructure in India
Examples of adoption: Max Healthcare, Fortis Healthcare, Sankara Nethralaya etc.
Education:
Right to education (RTE) and other initiatives by government to promote education through ICT is a key
enabler of growth in this segment
The student teacher ratio in India is abysmally low and most of the students do not receive quality education
due to lack of personalized attention. Institutions are increasingly looking at IT as an enabler to address this
challenge
Upgrading networking and basic IT infrastructure and implementing IT security solutions rank highest on the
agenda of most IT decision-makers in Indian education institutes
Various tier 1 and tier 1 colleges have shown interest in creating libraries, research and test labs on cloud for
on demand availability and scalability. Universities having multiple learning centers across the country can
network with each other and share same storage space using cloud solutions
Examples of adoption: IIT-Delhi, IIIT Hyderabad etc.
Retail:
The number of retail units is growing at a rapid pace in India and hence greater computation and storage is
required. Enterprise retail firms are likely to invest in web serving, stora ge and systems/ system management
to support their growing operations
Cloud readiness is increasing in the typically an unorganized retail sector (95%) as enterprises move on to SaaS
for business applications such as ERP and CRM. Mid-market retail firms are looking for cost optimization while
increasing IT adoption
Examples of adoption: Shoppers Stop, Oxford Book Store etc.
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19. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Exhibit 16: Vertical Maturity for Private Cloud Adoption in 2010 & 2015
Realizing this huge opportunity, several companies are competing aggressively to grab the largest share of the lucrative
cloud computing market. More than 2/3 rd of the global cloud services companies already have a direct presence in
India for its services for Indian enterprises. The next five years would witness more companies focusing on Indian
market and service portfolio extension of the existing companies in the India market. Many large cloud infrastructure
companies have laid out service offerings across the stack of private cloud computing for the India market
Several MNCs, Indian IT services players such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra etc. as well as start-ups have
strengthened their focus on the India market. The supply side is slowly gearing up towards providing best- in-class
services for the potentially vast customer base in the India market. Though large technology players have emerged as
leaders in cloud computing, several other companies are trying to carve their niche. Telecom companies such as Airtel,
Tata, BSNL and Sify also entered into the cloud market
Exhibit 17: Cloud Infrastructure Services Offered by Top Players in India
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20. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Some of the biggest IT players like EMC, Dell, HP, IBM, NetApp and VMware are competing for larger share in the cloud
computing market. Companies such as VMware, Cisco & EMC have partnered together (the VCE company) to create a
one-stop shop for all cloud related needs of enterprise.
Exhibit 18: Employment Generated Due to Private Cloud Market Growth in India
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21. Private Cloud Landscape in India
4. C HALLENGES OF PRIVATE C LOUD ADOPTION
While there are lots of benefits in the adoption of the private Cloud, there are some challenges also that need
attention from the stakeholders of cloud ecosystem in India. Since cloud computing is at a nascent stage, there is an
issue of lack of awareness, which affects the overall adoption of cloud computing in India. Issues regarding security,
even though it is mostly a matter of perception, continue to surface. Also the connectivity issues and proximity of cloud
datacenters in India geography continues to put challenges on performance. Many organizations in regulated verticals
such as healthcare, BFSI and government agencies have to adhere to laws and policies and define their IT strategy
accordingly. Lack of benchmarking, best practices and clear ROI models are also inhibiting the growth of private cloud
adoption in India. The internal IT teams are still not completely familiar with the entire benefits and use case of cloud
computing and hence are resistant towards a full blown adoption of the same.
Exhibit 19: Key Challenges for Private Cloud Adoption in India
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22. Private Cloud Landscape in India
5. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
The evolution of key drivers has nurtured the first phase of growth for private cloud market in India. Current market
dynamics indicate strong momentum, supporting a positive outlook. Targeted actions by key stakeholders across key
themes will help accelerate the next phase of growth, and enable the annual revenue aggregate of this segment to
reach US$ 8.4 billion by 2015.
As cloud services industry is a subset of the technology industry, it will indeed benefit from most actions that aid the
growth of the overall industry. The actions outlined below have been developed after considering the unique attributes
of and challenges faced by the ecosystem constituents of cloud services and are more specifically focused on enabling
the growth of this segment.
Demand Side: Companies looking to adopt cloud technologies in their IT environments should clearly need to align
themselves to the IT transformations and consider multiple factors before adoption
Align to IT Transformations: Being an IT leader is tough, specifically in the current times when IT is
transforming dynamically. 2/3rd of the CIOs do not think of their roles as strategic and currently lack support
and direction from businesses. Aligning oneself towards IT transformations and willingness to evaluate
benefits and move along the lines of these rapid transformations will be critical towards the growth of cloud
adoption in general
Identify Specific Areas of Cloud Investments: While cloud offers strategic benefits, not all IT might be required
to be migrated to cloud models to derive maximized benefits. The IT decision makers should identify specific
areas for cloud investments based on the strategic needs and current/ ongoing challenges of the IT & business
Learn about Vendor Offerings in the Market: The market is currently flooded by service providers offering
multitude of cloud services. A clear understanding of the offerings is much required before making any
purchase decision towards the same. Understanding of best-in-class offerings and partnering with those
vendors to realize maximized benefits is imperative
Cloud Computing is more than Just Cost Savings: Most of the CIO organizations in the Indian enterprises
today continues to view IT as investment rather than business enabler and hence focus on returns even before
investing into IT. While cost savings is the core fundamentals of cloud computing, not all cloud investments
necessarily result in direct cost savings and could be more intangible in nature. Cloud computing has to be
viewed as an enabler for better efficiency and productivity as opposed to pure cost savings
View Cloud Benefits in Long Term: While there has been a certain degree of aggression towards cloud
adoption across verticals, the quantifiable benefits may or may not be realized right at the time of
deployment. IT in general and Cloud computing in particular is to be looked at as business enabler and the
returns may not be quantifiable in the immediate future. The cloud computing strategy needs to be viewed
from a long term perspective rather than a time bound quarter on quarter return on investments
Invest in Building Internal Talent: Due to the nascent phase of this technology, not many companies currently
have the skilled talent pool that understand the technology and realize the benefits. Enough investments need
to be made in building the competencies internally
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23. Private Cloud Landscape in India
Exhibit 20: Catalysts for Cloud Adoption in India
Supply Side: Supply side companies looking to penetrate the Indian market should also understand the need of
differentiated and focused approach towards the market
Develop a Comprehensive Cloud Strategy for Long Term: There is a definite gap between the needs of the IT
organization and awareness about solution availability in the market place. Bridging this gap with a
comprehensive cloud strategy and service offerings will help in the short term. Evangelizing the CIOs towards
cloud benefits and eliminating perception around challenges will be key to nurturing this market in India
Develop Robust ROI Models: As highlighted above, Indian enterprises continue to view IT as investment as
opposed to business enabler and hence look for ROI. While the maturity of Indian enterprise and CIOs is
increasing on a continuous basis, addressing the challenge of lack of clear ROI frameworks for cloud adoption
might result in an immediate uptake of cloud solutions in the Indian market. A clear framework that defines
the ROI sequentially will thrust confidence among the users
Hand Hold Potential Customer, esp. during the Test Phase: While Indian CIOs are willing to experiment and
pilot test cloud in their IT environments , their current awareness as well as willingness to completely move to
cloud solutions is only slowly improving. There is a critical need to hand hold them through the whole process
and address their queries and concerns and provide a seamless experience. High touch customer engagement
would help address the challenges of the users
Consortium Based Approach: The IT decision makers in India are aggressively demanding for best of breed
solutions and are critical about the offerings, quality, durability, and reliability and pricing of available
solutions. A consortium based approach with participation from best in class market players (such as that of
VCE) is likely to boost up the confidence in the users and will also showcase commitment towards cloud
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24. Private Cloud Landscape in India
models
Ecosystem Support: Last but not the least, enabling the ecosystem of cloud market (including service
providers, data center providers, system integrators, application providers etc.) would be important to further
strengthen the customer confidence in cloud and its potential. End to end support throughout the course of
adoption, continuous innovation in delivery and business models, addressing specific needs and helping CIOs
transform to the journey of cloud will be much required to realize the huge market opportunity that India has
to offer
The next wave of transformation in the IT industry is cloud computing. This is a perfect storm. The only difference is
this storm is destructive only to companies who not willing to change. It is a huge opportunity for others. It is clear that
like any transformational initiative, adoption of cloud also faces internal resistance to change as it fundamentally alters
the makeup of the IT organization. The key is that the cloud related challenges will eventually get resolved through
better technology, transparency, cost, regulations and changes in mind set of the customer.
Having realized the immense opportunities, it will be imperative for the companies to come together and enable
collaborative innovation to address Indian market needs. Key focus should now be on developing the ecosystem. It
should include transformation of IT decision markers, developing the talent for cloud development, connecting start up
ISVs with large System integrators, enabling the startups on the cloud market places and finally influencing government
policies to influence cloud adoption.
In cloud we believe..
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25. Private Cloud Landscape in India
6. SOURCES
1. Akamai (www.akamai.com)
2. Aptech (http://www.aptech-worldwide.com)
3. Asia cloud forum (http://www.asiacloudforum.com)
4. Asia pacific future gov (http://www.futuregov.asia)
5. Bitpipe (http://www.bitpipe.com/)
6. Biz2tech.in (http://biztech2.in.com)
7. Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org)
8. Business Standard (www.business-standard.com)
9. Business Wire (http://www.businesswireindia.com)
10. Businessworld (http://businessworld.in/)
11. Channel world (http://www.channelworld.in)
12. CIO Association of India
13. CIO Research Center (http://cioresearchcenter.com)
14. CIOL (http://www.ciol.com)
15. Cisco (www.cisco.com)
16. Cloud tweaks (http://www.cloudtweaks.com)
17. Crn.in (http://www.crn.in)
18. CXO today (http://www.cxotoday.com)
19. Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com)
20. Dell Company website (www.dell.co.in)
21. Digitizor (http://digitizor.com)
22. DQweek (http://dqweek.ciol.com)
23. E- government online (http://www.egovonline.net)
24. Economic Times (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)
25. EMC (www.emc.com)
26. Express computer online (http://www.expresscomputeronline.com)
27. Financial Express (http://www.financialexpress.com)
28. Grameen Foundation (http://www.grameenfoundation.org)
29. Hindu Business (http://www.thehindubusinessline.in)
30. Ibef (http://www.ibef.org)
31. IBM (http://www.ibm.com)
32. Ibn Live (http://ibnlive.in.com)
33. IDC India (http://www.idcindia.com)
34. Information Week (http://www.informationweek.in)
35. Insurance tech (http://www.insurancetech.com)
36. ITpro (http://www.itpro.in)
37. Itvarnews (http://www.itvarnews.net)
38. Live mint (www.livemint.com)
39. Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com)
40. Netapp (www.netapp.com)
41. Physorg (http://www.physorg.com)
42. Rediff Business (http://business.rediff.com)
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26. Private Cloud Landscape in India
43. Reuters (http://in.reuters.com/)
44. Salesforce (http://www.salesforce.com)
45. Search CIO (http://searchcio.techtarget.in)
46. Techno Pulse (http://www.techno-pulse.com)
47. Technology review (http://www.technologyreview.in)
48. The CTO forum (http://www.thectoforum.com)
49. The Economist (http://www.economist.com/)
50. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/)
51. The next web (http://thenextweb.com)
52. The Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
53. Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
54. Vcbytes (http://www.vcbytes.com)
55. Vmware (www.vmware.com)
56. World Bank (www.worldbank.org)
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