Cloud solutions are not just a big boys’ game. In fact, small and medium businesses (SMBs) need to adopt cloud solutions now more than ever, given the headwinds they face. In an email interaction with businessline, Bhawna Agarwal, Country Head, Strategy & Growth, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), India, talks about how the company helps SMBs navigate the many challenges in their digital transformation journey and other factors shaping the industry. Excerpts:
Your CEO, Antonio Neri, had talked about how the “hybrid cloud” powerhouse is benefiting from a “booming” AI market. So, what kind of tailwind do you see from this phenomenon?
In the dynamic landscape of technology, the confluence of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to fuel innovation, drive business growth, and unlock new opportunities for organisations across industries. Several tailwinds are expected to propel growth, such as data accessibility and integration, where hybrid cloud architectures will facilitate access to diverse data sources, both on-premises and in the cloud. This will enable organisations to leverage large datasets for training AI models, improving accuracy and performance. Moreover, cost efficiency, flexibility, and agility will also play an imperative role, as hybrid cloud models will not only provide a cost-effective approach to deploying AI solutions but also enable organisations to organise AI workloads across multiple environments based on performance, security, and compliance requirements.
AI has become ubiquitous. Today, becoming an AI-powered business for improved decisions, process efficiency, and creative innovation is imperative. Therefore, with HPE’s unique data-first approach, businesses can leverage extensive collections of both public and private data to empower data analytics applications and the development of AI models, from training to tuning. The inference is hybrid by design, enabling AI workloads to be deployed precisely where they are most effective, spanning from edge to cloud. AI is becoming a significant tool to extract value from the data into actionable insights, and HPE is creating a foundation to develop and train scalable models more efficiently, powering AI strategies from edge to hybrid cloud, and enabling businesses to deploy and maintain AI at scale.
How do you help SMBs get a fix on their cloud strategy — public, private, or hybrid?
HPE’s products, services and expertise are built to support SMBs in their long-term business goals as well as near-term challenges. We offer an array of services to SMBs, such as HPE InfoSight, which is an advanced predictive analysis that offers real-time insights into the health and performance of their infrastructure. We also provide HPE Pointnext Services, which enable them to develop and operate application workloads as they build out their edge environment with a hybrid cloud. Then, our Aruba Instant-On, a reliable and flexible network solution, has been designed keeping SMBs in mind with an efficient app-managed ecosystem.
We also understand the necessity for SMBs to secure funding for sustainable digital transformation and have the financial resources to cover their expenses throughout the process until they begin to see tangible returns on their investments. Therefore, HPE Financial Services (HPEFS) allows SMBs to develop a playbook that’s unique to their IT asset portfolio, aspirations, and size. From helping release capital from existing infrastructures to deferring payments and providing preowned tech to relieve capacity strain, HPEFS provides an array of asset lifecycle and financial solutions that SMBs can leverage to support their current needs and position them for long-term success.
SMBs face many challenges as they adopt the cloud. Cybersecurity is also one of their primary concerns
SMBs in India play a critical role in driving economic growth and fostering innovation. However, they encounter challenges in accessing adequate funding due to a lack of collateral, high interest rates charged, etc., inhibiting their ability to expand operations, invest in technology, or innovate. Due to limited technological infrastructure and digital literacy, some SMBs continue to retain legacy systems for longer durations, thereby amplifying costs, reducing operational effectiveness, and increasing compliance issues. Cybersecurity represents a substantial threat to SMBs due to their limited resources and often inadequate defenses against sophisticated cyber threats, which can lead to financial losses, reputational damage, and potential legal liabilities. Besides these, SMBs also face challenges in finding and retaining skilled talent, as there is often a gap between the skills demanded by modern businesses and the skills possessed by the available workforce. However, as the cloud is becoming a key enabler of growth for businesses, the SMBs of today are increasingly adopting cloud technology to enhance flexibility and scale their operations.
We at HPE play an important role in helping SMBs achieve digital transformation across the entire technology lifecycle by simplifying the setup, configuration, and deployment of new technology assets. We help SMBs take control of cloud-based apps and data with an on-site solution tuned to run their business applications for better performance and data security, enabling them to avoid unexpected cloud subscription costs and service outage downtime.
Additionally, with HPEFS, we help SMBs unlock the value of their entire IT estate, from edge to cloud to end user, with multi-vendor solutions consistently, making the IT investment a force multiplier and not a stumbling block. We also deliver a flexible, consistent process for retiring IT equipment through HPE Asset Upcycling Services. It can help SMBs build a customised plan for their business’s unique needs and navigate through the applicable data security and environmental laws. The major elements of these strategies can include responsible retiring, removal, and disposal of IT equipment and refurbishing IT.
What role does the regulatory environment play in terms of demand for cloud services?
The regulatory environment plays a crucial role in shaping the demand for cloud services by influencing organisations’ decisions regarding data protection, compliance, and risk management. Several factors highlight the regulatory influence on cloud services, such as ‘data protection and privacy regulations’.
‘Data localisation’ requirements mandate certain types of data that must be stored and processed within the country’s borders. This may influence organisations to seek cloud services that offer data centers or hosting facilities located within the jurisdiction to comply with local laws and regulations. Cloud service providers that can address regulatory requirements effectively and offer solutions tailored to specific regulatory environments are poised to capitalise on the growing demand for cloud services.