Thanks to the inexpensive nature of this technology, SMBs are flocking on to the Web for their conferencing needs. By Mehak Chawla
Frost & Sullivan estimated the overall conferencing market in India to hover around the $90 million mark. The bulk of the revenues for the conferencing market flow from large enterprises while SMBs contribute about 22%.
Conferencing is basically divided into three sub groups namely audio, video and the Web. Although audio has been around for a long time and video has made its mark, it is Web conferencing that is attracting a lot of mid-sized enterprises into its fold. Not only is it cost-effective, it also comes with fewer integration challenges, doesn’t require CAPEX and the services refrain from consuming your IT resources. The lower bandwidth requirements and, therefore, lower OPEX, is tipping the balance in the favor of Web conferencing over video conferencing.
Dialing into the Web
The adoption of any technology by the SMB sector is predicated upon bringing down the Total Cost of Ownership or TCO and increasing ease of use. Since Web conferencing fulfills both these criteria at one go, it has managed to become quite popular with mid-sized organizations.
A lot of small organizations in India are, however, still Skyping. Skype indeed is the meeting place of choice for smaller businesses with scattered operations. Since performance issues like the occasional call drop or a lag of few seconds don’t weigh anything close to the benefit of using what is for PC-to-PC calling purposes, a free service, the smaller SMBs are readily dialing into Skype.
Amulya Kumar, Director, Ojha Printers, a small printing organization that prints labels for enterprises, explained, “We use Skype frequently to discuss designs and layouts with clients based outside Delhi. Security is not such a big concern for us because our discussions don’t involve sensitive issues like the client’s financial information or intellectual property for that matter.”
The case is a bit different for the larger SMBs, those that are large enough to start worrying about complying with regulations and are cautious about customer information. According to Adil Doctor, Director, SMB Business, APAC, Avaya, “Indian SMBs are becoming quite aware and conscious of security in the solutions that they utilize in their organizations.”
It is primarily because of these security concerns that mid-sized enterprises are preferring to go in for a suite of solutions rather than consume low-cost or free conferencing applications.
Suite to go
The biggest trend in the Web conferencing domain today is that SMBs are increasingly demanding Web-based collaboration in their Unified Communications (UC) suites. Even though video has not become a pervasive part of UC for many small organizations, it’s a different story with Web conferencing. Mid-sized organizations are now considering UC suites that place an emphasis on Web conferencing.
According to Dhanraj Sisodia, Head – IT, EasyGo Transporters, Web conferencing makes the sharing of daily reports and logistics much easier with the company’s drivers and coordinators across the country. “This is why we deployed a suite that included both voice and Web collaboration,” he added.
Sisodia was of the view that, unlike video conferencing, Web conferencing was easier to use even for the not-so-tech-savvy folks such as drivers. Moreover, it didn’t require a dedicated service provider.
Doctor agreed, “Web conferencing is useful for organizations for sharing stuff in a quick and cost-effective manner. That is why collaboration over the Web is growing rapidly.”
Sandeep Mehra, WebEx Business Head, Asia Pacific and Japan, Cisco, opined that today’s SMBs were constantly looking at newer ways to communicate across borders and said that Web conferencing came with certain natural advantages. “We operate in a globalized workplace, one that demands that information exchange and must span above and beyond our cubicles and office spaces. This is especially true for India where business growth in Tier 2 and 3 cities seems almost inevitable. SMBs, as well as large enterprises, are seeing immense value in being connected to locations in Tier 2 and 3 cities. Collaborative tools such as WebEx and Jabber make communication to these places both time- and cost-effective, without compromising on the quality of the service delivered.”
Hurdles and impediments
Security concerns form the biggest impediment for organizations looking to deploy Web conferencing in India. Not everyone is comfortable with exchanging information over a public network. Security is often cited as the primary reason for large enterprises preferring the more CAPEX-intensive video conferencing over Web conferencing.
Mehra talked about the paranoia that gripped would be users of this technology in India. “Organizations, across the board, are apprehensive about the security threats that are involved in utilizing Web conferencing solutions. While larger companies have a dedicated IT team, which would take the necessary measures to ensure compliance, SMBs face the added challenge of ensuring that the solution in question has all the necessary prerequisites in order to guarantee a secure environment. In most cases, these companies already have an overworked IT team. Here’s where choosing the right solution can make all the difference.”
However, mid-sized organizations are starting to take security seriously and opting for solutions that come with in-built security mechanisms. Doctor of Avaya said, “With vendors providing built in security features in their conferencing suites, security concerns with regard to Web conferencing are ebbing.”
Doctor explained that Avaya had installed multiple security mechanisms, including those of remote access, in its IP Office system, currently in its eighth version. “You don’t have to be on-site in order to manage an IP Office system as you can do it securely from anywhere at any time,” he added.
Doctor opined that conferencing, more so Web conferencing, was all about bringing in flexibility without the barriers of location or device. Therefore, secure remote access happens to be a key ingredient of any conferencing suite.
Mehra elaborated on the security mechanisms in Cisco’s WebEx. “We deploy a unique, globally-distributed, dedicated network of high-speed meeting switches. This means that the meeting session data originating from the presenter’s computer and arriving at the attendees’ PC is switched through the Cisco Collaboration Cloud and it is never stored persistently. The WebEx Site Administration module manages and enforces security policies for the WebEx site. Settings controlled at this level determine host and presenter privileges for scheduling meetings.”
The other big hurdle in the way of Web conferencing is the issue of bandwidth. Indian SMBs adopting these solutions often have to grapple with bandwidth constraints.
Future outlook
Globally, we are witnessing the transition to a network-centric technology environment. That is one of the reasons for Web-based conferencing gaining traction.
Broadband is becoming more pervasive in India although there is a long way to go and last mile hassles persist. 4G is coming and that should hopefully help boost the reach of broadband from the scenario where BSNL or MTNL is often the only option even in suburban areas of major cities (private ISPs only penetrate into high density pockets such as large apartment complexes).
Bandwidth availability will determine the rate of adoption of Web conferencing. “India is a growing economy and there is immense competition among companies as well as pressure to be more productive at a lower cost, reduce time to market and be able to reach people no matter where they are. These are all pertinent factors that help in gaining a competitive edge and they are driving the adoption of Web conferencing in the country,” explained Mehra.
Vendors too are expected to come up with faster, less bandwidth intensive Web conferencing solutions. Although the focus of hardware vendors and service providers is on the more lucrative video conferencing category, Web conferencing is expected to attract some attention in the coming year.
Parminder Saini, Industry Manager, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan,South Asia & Middle East, concluded that anything that reduced bandwidth consumption by providing advanced compression would prove popular in the Indian conferencing space.
