Keepinginmindaneedtocreateinnovationleddisruptionsinthemarket,Brocade

IndiaislookingforwardtoincreasingitsnumberofIndependentSoftwareVendor
partnersinIndia.
EdgarDias,RegionalDirectorIndia&SAARC,BrocadespeakswithZia
AskarifromChannelDrive.inaboutthecompanyscorefocustodayandhowit
ismovingaheadinthemarket.
HowisBrocadecreatingdisruptingpropositionsinthemarket?
Wearedisruptingthroughinnovation,disruptingthroughsoftwarenetworking,and
disruptingthroughdevops.Weareusingtechnologyasadisruptortodriveaunique
valueproportiontoourendcustomers.
WehaveastrongpresenceacrosskeyverticalslikeBFSI,Govt.,IT/ITeS,Ecommerce
andEducation.Fromachannelcoverageperspective,wenotonlyhaveOEMpartners
butalsoworkwiththeresellercommunity.
OurrobustpartnerrelationshipsforSANsolutionsarealsoresellingourIPportfoliofor
exampleEMCandHitachi.TheselargeOEMsplayakeyroleinouroverallgotomarket
forIPstorage,convergedstackandfordatacentertransformation.Customersareon
thejourneyoftransformation,theywanttoseecompute,storageandnetworking
basicallymarryingitselfandthatformslinksbetweenprovisioningofacomputeto
integrationwithanetworkorviseversaorwithstorage.Forthiswearebuildingthe
capabilitytodrivedevopscapabilityinhouseinIndia.
HowbigisyourISVecosystemtoday?CanyounametheseISVpartners?
Today,wepartnerinabigwaywithtwobigpartners.Butwearelookingformultiple
partners.WecannotnameourISVpartners.Thesepartnersbringinskillslikepython
programming,Chef,OpenDayLightskillsetc.
YouhavementionedthatyouareworkingwithtwoISVs.Anyplansto
increasethisnumber?
Yesweareplanningtoincreasethisnumber.Butwedonothaveatargetintermsof
numbersbutprioritywillbegiventothosewhowillbringincomplementaryskillsets

thatwecanleverageandtaketothemarket.
PleaseshareyourgotomarketstrategyinIndia?
Weuseaverytargetedapproachtothemarket.Weknowwhichindustriesandniches
totargetandstrategicallyworkwithourpartnerstoinitiateconversations.This
zoominginstrategyhelpsusmaximizeoursalesconversionratesandgivesusalegup
onthecompetition.
Brocadesgotomarketispredominantlythroughthechannelwithover50channel
partners(andgrowing)inIndia.KeymarketsegmentsthatBrocadefocusesoninclude
BFSI,Healthcare,Government,Education,Media&EntertainmentandService
providers.BrocadehasalsorecordedsolidwinsinrecenttimesinIndia.Wewanttobe
thebestcompanytopartnerwithinthenetworkingbusiness.Wewanttobethe
strategicnetworkingvendortothelargestandmostinfluentialITcompaniesinthe
world.
Youmentionedthatyouhave250customersinIndia?
Right.Sothatistheproofpointofexistingdeploymentsthatwehaveinthecountry.
Wearedoingalotofnewinitiativesonthefabricside,IPfabric,softwarenetworking
spaceandcampusspace.
Mentionthechallengesthatyouarefacingwhilelookingforthesemarkets
andwhicharethenewageinnovationsthatyouarelookingforwardtobe
adopted?
ThereisamisconceptionthatIndiansdonotadopttotechnologiesquicklywhichisnot
thefactbecausenowIndiancustomersarefairlysophisticated.Theywillnottakeabet
ontechnologythatisnonprovenforeg,fabrics.
IthinkinAsia,probablyafterJapan,themarketthathasadoptedfabricsfastesthas
beenIndia,forBrocadeatleast.Obviously,therearecountrieslikeAustralia,Hong
Kong,Singapore,China,Koreaetc.butIndiahasdoneinabigway.Lastyearwegrew
tripledigityearoveryear.Thisyearwearegoingtogrowtripledigitsaswell.
Areyoutalkingabouttherevenue?

Yes,Iamtalkingabouttherevenue.Wearegrowingtripledigityearoveryearwhich
meanswearegrowing100%yearoveryear.Soforusourchallengeishowdowe
pumpuptheecosystemandchannelpartnerstopickupmorecustomers.
Youmentionedthatyouhavethousandpeoplehereandwouldthisnumber
grow?
Fromasalesandtechnicalsalesperspective,wearearound5055inthecountrynow.
Yes,weamongstthefewcompanieswhohaveaddedadditionaltechandsalesforcein
India.Ourcustomerslikewhatwearetalkingandlikethefactthatwearenotlocked
downandthatwearegivingsomethingthatisunique.Weplayontheabilitytogiveour
customerstheopportunitytodrivebetterperformance,betterautomation,betterskills
andeaseofmanagement.
Howmanypeoplecanweexpectasyouhavetoday50peopleonthesales?
Rightnowitisourfinancialyearendandwearegoingthroughtheplanningprocess.
Wedonothavenumbersasyetbutaregoingthroughtheplanningcycleforthenext
year.
Areyouplanningforanexpansionnextyear?
Yes.OurCEOwasinIndiaandhementionedthatIndiaisthefastestgrowingmarketin
theworldforBrocade.AlotoftechnologieshavebeendevelopedinIndiaandweare
planningalotofexpansioninIndia.
WhataresomeofthebiginnovationsthatarebeingledbyBrocadetoday?
Whyaretheseimportantforthemarket?
RecentlyBrocadelaunchedthreenewsolutions:TheBrocadeSDNController2.0isa
commercialdistributionoftheOpenDaylight(ODL)controllerbasedontheLithiumODL
release,andtwonewsoftwaredefinednetworking(SDN)applicationsBrocade
TopologyManagerandBrocadeFlowManager.Thesenewsolutionsreinforce
BrocadesleadershipinopensourceSDN,providinggreaterinnovation,interoperability
andchoicewhileeliminatingvendorlockinforcustomers.
BrocadeFlowOptimizerisanSDNapplicationsupportinganOpenDaylightbased

controller,andprovidesrealtimepolicybasedmanagementfornetworktrafficflows.
WhencoupledwithBrocadeMLXerouters,theFlowOptimizerenablesserviceproviders
andenterprisestogainproactiveinsightintotheirnetworktrafficandmitigatenetwork
attacksandeliminatenetworkcongestion,withtheultimategoalofprovidingan
improvedenduserexperience.
BrocadeAnalyticsMonitoringPlatformallowsorganizationstoachievegreaterROIand
reducedOpExfortheirmissioncriticalapplicationsbyprovidingITstaffwiththehighest
levelsofmonitoringandanalyticsbetweenserversandstorage.Asaresult,
organizationscanbetterensurepredictableperformanceandoperationalstabilityfor
theirITinfrastructures.
Whenitcomestoenterpriseverticals,whichwouldbethebiggestenterprise
verticalforBrocade?
Itisthetechnologyandgovernmentvertical.Intermsofpotential,obviouslyitise
commerceandbanking,andwiththeentirefocusondigitalIndia,smartcitiesetc.
Thereisgoingtobealotoftrickledowneffectintermsofinvestmentinthenetworking
infrastructurewhichweseehappeninginnext618months.