Knowledge of IT is utmost important e-commerce a threat to retailers

S Mohini Ratna Editor, VARINDIA

There is no denying the fact that SMEs are the lifeblood of an economy – be it the developed or developing ones. According to one estimate, some 36 million enterprises, which contribute 65 per cent of manufacturing output in India, have been in a constant growing mode at a rate far above the rest all large enterprise segments . Since, it makes a cheaper, efficient proposition for the larger enterprises to outsource their activities to SMEs, the latter are finding themselves on a good wicket. And, anyone who takes a lackadaisical attitude to this sector of the economy does so at their own disadvantage.

As usual, the cybercriminals are making merry. Corporations – large and small companies – and individuals continue to bear the brunt of cyber break-ins. The rapid adoption of cloud, mobility, video, collaboration and big data has resulted in an unprecedented network growth and complexity within the data center. Security is becoming more and more complex with each passing day. Cyber-villains see their greatest opportunities in the cloud. The hackers are looking for greener pastures including the cloud for making money as hacking yields greater fortunes. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to pinpoint which one of the two, viz. movement to the cloud or cybercrime, is growing at a faster pace. One estimate has it that more than 80 per cent of business users resort to cloud applications without the knowledge or support of corporate IT.

Explaining at the WIITF event in Mumbai, leading experts view was, the e-commerce industry is transforming traditional retail and its impact on the retail shops and shopping hubs in the country. Though at a nascent stage, e-commerce, which is gradually growing as a B2B sales channel, is showing all signs of rapid growth. With the dramatic changes in the shopping trends being witnessed in recent times, it is to be hoped that, with estimated revenues of around US$16 billion in 2013, the Indian e-commerce industry is all set to become the next big revolution. As is obvious, the shoppers in the urbanized areas of India are the key drivers of the e-commerce model. Efforts are being made to invest heavily in the infrastructure so that non-metropolitan areas can be supported and it would be easy to capture the market.

One acronym that is gaining currency these days in the storage landscape is the CDM which stands for “Copy Data Management”. Today, a $34-billion opportunity, CDM is all set to attract large vendors in due course of time.

With all the above growth and opportunity that accompany India’s growth story in the IT sector, the million dollar question is how secure we are in the present economic conditions. With this backdrop, let us wait and watch for the forthcoming General Elections in our country, which, I do hope, will elect a stable and secure Government.