'Internet Is An Equaliser For SMBs'

Ranajoy Punja, VP, Business Development-Advanced Technologies, Cisco India and SAARC, talks about security in the SMB market in a one-on-one with Biztech2.0.

What kind of IT solutions do you think SMBs will invest in?

Of the IT spend, networking spend continues to be big and security is also on top of their minds. SMBs are looking at setting up a foundation network; however, they want this network to be a secure one. What we are seeing in the SME space is something called ‘unified threat management’. The other trend is integrating security into routers. This involves having encryption, VPN termination, firewall capabilities and even some level of content filtering right at the router level itself.

What is your take on vendors making solutions plug-and-play for SMBs?

The first is to provide integrated security services. The ASA platform is a great example of integration and providing a UTM solution. Therefore, for our customers it becomes a one-box solution that they can deploy into their network and the configurations become very simple. The endeavour is to make the solutions more user friendly and Web enabled so that it is not necessary to understand complex command-line configurations. All one needs to do is point, click and drag on a very user-friendly interface, which will configure the network and also manage the network and those devices. This translates simply into being able to identify where there may be an issue, break in, treat and provide a simplistic consolidated view to the customer on how they can go ahead and fix the issue.

More from Biztech

What transitions have you seen in the SMB market?

Over the years, we have seen a significant transition in this market. SMBs have grown in knowledge and are competing at a greater pace and growing as a segment much faster than any other. They are leveraging technology to compete with global enterprises. Now, smaller SMBs are leveraging technology to compete with large companies that are not as tech savvy as them. When technology is leveraged, it is fundamental to leverage the networking and communications technology, which is the base of the IT infrastructure. This can be done to enhance internal communication, innovation and productivity or to collaborate better with partners and customers. Thus, SMBs are becoming fairly aggressive and with the Internet being an equaliser, they are adopting the latest technologies to drive business.

What security trends do you see in India as well as globally?

We are seeing similar trends the world over, which also includes India. With customers opening their networks, they are looking to build and roll out solutions that are secure, addressing both internal and external threats. A trend that is noticeable relates to threats getting very dynamic and complex. A reactive measure can no longer be taken to a threat outbreak; proactive measures have to be taken.