The cloud is calling, but is India ready?

The cloud is calling, but is India ready?

 Considering that the concept of 'zero' actually came from India, you would think that data, basically a huge combination of numbers, will be of great importance in this country. Well, in many ways, it is true.

There are more than a billion people in this country whose records are stored in public archives. There are academic records, stored in the archives of schools, colleges and universities. Moreover, the blooming healthcare industry in India also collects and stores new data every single second. But what's unique about the data situation in India is that, till the 90s, most of it was stored in hard copies - paperwork that could fill up football stadiums.

Wholescale data digitisation is a relatively new thing in India and the process only got accelerated when the IT and ITeS industries came up in the country in the mid-90s. But being a late entrant to the digital revolution did have its drawbacks - data security suffered as most of the infrastructure was directed towards the hard-to-soft conversion.

The need for data security
US accused China of backing hackers who allegedly stole crucial information that could hamper America's trade prospects. On the other hand, the NSA in America has been accused of similar crimes when they admittedly intercepted personal messages from China Telecom to learn more about the Chinese military.

In the diplomatic arena, it is also alleged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office line had been wiretapped by the NSA. Closer home, Chinese hackers have intercepted personal computers and e-mail messages of an Indian professor who is known to have pro-Tibet sentiments. So clearly, international spying is a legitimate threat. Therefore, it is high time that India should hugely invest in data security. Being a developing nation, cost is an issue, though. And that is exactly why Cloud-based computing might be one way to go about it.

Getting a slice of the Cloud pie
On a global scale, the market for Cloud computing is moving only in one direction, and that is up. From a sheer valuation point of view, it is estimated that the Cloud computing market will leap from $148 billion in 2014 to $207 billion within a span of two years. But the Cloud service space does not exist like a lone island; it is like a chain reaction. Businesses that embrace the Cloud also benefit from it monetarily.

According to Disruptive Technologies: Advances that will transform life, business and the global economy, a report from McKinsey & Company, Cloud-based services will have an enormous economic impact. The estimates are between $1.7 trillion and $6.2 trillion annually by 2025. Yes, that is right - we are talking about trillions, not billions. With such huge business flourishing globally, it will be quite tragic if India, with all its digital brains and trained workforce, could not tap that market. However, to make such services affordable for businesses and individuals using Cloud-based devices, major Indian IT companies must team up with the public sector and try to build something like 'India Cloud.'

Seeing how American Cloud-based servers own 80% of the worldwide distribution and how that is one country where privacy can be too easily compromised by government interference, the European Union is trying to establish an EU-specific Cloud. India, with all its resources, needs to go travel that same path.

Is India Cloud-ready?
Now that is the million-dollar question, isn't it? In India, Microsoft Office 365 is available for a price of Rs 330 per month or Rs 3,299 per year. According to reports available from Microsoft, its goal for India is to have at least 25 million users for Cloud services. And with the growing love affair of Indians with their smartphones and tablets, such a goal is not at all unreachable. But is India ready for such an overwhelming change?

The Asia Cloud Computing Association came up with a Cloud Readiness Index for 14 nations across the continent this year and the previous one. While Japan topped the list both times, India came in 9th last year but slipped to 13th in 2014. The areas where India scored the lowest points are international connectivity and data centre risk. IPR protection in India also needs a serious overhaul. When the report came out earlier this year, it stated that India did not have a pro-ICT (Information and Communication Technology) business environment. But now that the country has a new leadership, one that is said to be business friendly, things may turn for the better.

Cloud computing is big and it is here to stay. Also, India has extremely skilled resources serving the IT and the ITeS segments. If even a fraction of that talent pool can be diverted towards training in Cloud-based services over the next 2-3 years, in a pro-ICT environment, nothing can stop India from being Cloud-ready. But the entire process has to be kick-started now.