The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown have led to increased adoption of “collaboration solutions” across enterprises, including smaller ones, and in tier-2 and tier-3 towns, says Vishal Agrawal, MD, India and Saarc, Avaya India.
According to him, India continues to be amongst the fastest-growing geographies in terms of embracing new technologies.
In an interview with
The number is changing very rapidly everyday and the usage in India has increased multiple times.
Across the globe, adoption of collaboration technology in developed countries is a lot higher than in India. There is a lot more catching up to do here; this, despite the fact that India has been the fastest adopting market in terms of size.
As long as we make an impact through our software/solution, for our customers, we are happy about it.
Customers see value in our software and they are therefore opting for it at a fast pace. We have adopted over 500 customers in the last two to three weeks. In fact, there is more acceptance in the market for Avaya’s solutions today and the demand is massive.
We are also giving 60-day free licences of our collaboration solutions to our customers to communicate better within/outside the organisation.
Which are the sectors where you see greater adoption happening?
Education, healthcare, government and SMBs (small and medium businesses) are highest contributors. In SMBs, there has been a tectonic shift as tier-2, and tier-3 markets were not quite geared for collaboration tools earlier.
Will this be the “new normal” in a post-Covid India?
Adoption of communication collaboration will continue and become a part of life, inclusive of video, chat, calls, messaging, and so on.
The prevailing situation will change the norm down the line. It will allow organisations to operate differently, such as transitioning into a more seamless and remote working environment. Indian customers are extremely agile and when the situation arose in the country, they were able to support their end-customers well.
What about the cost of communication/collaboration solutions, for an organisation?
The cost may not be too high, close to couple of 100s per user per month and will be a little more for high-end users that demand enhanced features. But costs will be in an affordable category. In general, the entry cost for a host would be around $10 (₹750).
There are also a lot of free platforms coming up. Are these a threat?
Avaya’s solutions are focused on security, seamless communication and stability of the product. We are an innovation-driven organisation. When the market structure becomes wider and pervasive, you will see many organisations gravitating towards it, which is good for the industry.
How do you see the impact of this pandemic on organisations’ finances, will it be an opportunity or a challenge?
It’s going to be challenging both in terms of business and emotionally. But the situation provides abundant opportunities. Communication will become key and organisations will look for more innovative collaborative solutions in this new era.
Avaya operates helpline services in States like Uttar Pradesh. How did this segment perform during the pandemic?
Apart from Uttar Pradesh, we have helpline services in many States. Across the country, we are helping more than 23,000 remote working agents and our call volumes and queries have gone up.
Our systems are extremely robust so they work even if there is a spike in call volumes.
There was a huge rush initially but it is more streamlined now, in a way that we are able to turn around the requests quickly. The team has also been working 24x7 for the past few weeks.