What kind of opportunities do you see in the Indian market for Quantum’s products?
Currently, we are specifically focused on providing data protection solutions to the finance, manufacturing, ITeS, software, and telecom segments. We have already doubled the size of our operations in Bangalore and will open offices in Mumbai and Delhi this year.

Let’s take the case of Quantum DX30, a disk-based system that is optimized for backup and virtualized tape. DX30 offers an innovative approach to backup through disk-based solutions that complement tape libraries, optimize backup performance, and provide seamless interoperability, while preserving existing investments in backup hardware, software, and operational procedures. We are very bullish about DX30’s adoption in India, and will adopt a consultative approach in implementing these solutions.

Our customers in the multinationals segment include GE Capital Services, National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Intel, Silicon Graphics, i2 Technologies, ABN Amro Bank, GE GTS, and Sanyo. The Indian businesses segment constitutes a growing percentage of our business. Some of our clients in this segment include UTI Bank, South Indian Bank, Command Cell, ControlNet, Infosys, Tata Consulting Services, Kotak Mahindra, Indya.com, Wipro Technologies, and SG Software. This will be our focus segment in the coming months.

How would you describe the storage needs of the Indian enterprises?
In fact, the Indian market has just realized the importance and benefits of having networked and automated storage environments. Also, users in India are increasingly looking for simple, cost-effective, reliable, and highly modular storage solutions. They couldn’t care less if the solution was a SAN or NAS implementation. The Indian market, has in particular, been a major draw for our modular storage solutions, where customers are able to easily build on their previous storage investments and ‘buy as they go’. This is a major reason why Quantum has been hugely successful with its M-1500 and M-2500 series libraries, which offers high flexibility and modularity.

Which were the major deals that you lapped up recently?
The biggest order for us last year was from GE Capital Services. GE Capital has the largest installation of M1500 libraries in the entire Asia-Pacific. Motorola, Nerolac Paints, Chrysler Daimler, ONGC, Mentor Graphics, Spice Telecom, Fluent, and Tata Teleservices are some of the major orders won by us in the last quarter.

What about the telecom service providers segment?
We have been very successful in the telecom segment so far. But we still have a large market to address, and we are doing that very aggressively. Some of our major customers in this segment are Command Cell, Orange, Tellabs, Tata Teleservices, and Spice Telecom.

Who are your channel partners in India and are you looking at new partners?
Our ‘Go to Market’ strategy in India is to work closely with our partners, Wipro Infotech and Apara Enterprises, in developing the Indian market for our products and services. Both our partners understand the Indian market very well and help us immensely in positioning the right kind of products for the Indian market. At the moment, there are no fresh plans to look for additional channel partners.

Ravi Shekhar Pandey