We are focusing on building an ecosystem of partners, certified network professionals and skilled professionals in India

Yara discusses the opportunity in India for business intelligence

solutions, large-scale data warehousing and analytics

What is the Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) initiative?



We launched EDC in June last year. However, adoption of this has been slow

because the industry is still following traditional enterprise data warehousing

practices that were introduced more than two decades ago. Now, companies need to

think seriously about what they store. As in the last 10 years, computing costs

have gone down as a result of which the storage needs have increased.

Enterprise-class customers are looking for greater storage. Greenplum offers

consolidation, faster agility and facilitates end-users too. EDC is a reality

for enterprises, today.

What will spur the adoption of business intelligence (BI) solutions?



Large companies, including the BFSI sector already have data warehousing

infrastructure. They should look at BI solutions in order to decrease costs, for

a software-based approach and to take advantage of a new era of commodity-based

computing. Greenplum's solution is cost-effective and customer friendly with a

technology roadmap for enterprise data.

What solutions do you offer for the BFSI and telecom sectors?



Reliance is using our services for surveillance, compliance reporting and

call activities, which are critical in nature. Through convergence services,

telecos can save money. CRM is another important component, and it facilitates

customers to offer customized plans, improve service, analyze traffic, security

exchange as well as offer compliance and regulation.

Every sector is based around data management, and so are banking activities.

The recent economic downturn has given rise to incredible competition. Campaign

management and e-banking have become crucial for customers. CRM has become a

crucial need for organizations and trading institutions.

Do you have any plans for tapping into e-governance projects in India?



There is a huge opportunity in the government sector. We are definitely

exploring the opportunities in this arena.

According to a recent Gartner report, BI platforms and analytic

applications have grown more than 50 percent. Keeping this in mind, what are

your growth targets?



The figures are very heartening and Greenplum will aim to bring out

innovative products in the market to keep up with the industry needs. In the

last 10 years, there has been a lot of innovation at Greenplum-from basic

reporting to online tools. This is where we hope to grow in the future.

What is your strategy for the Indian market?



Our priority is to find the right leadership team for India, and build an

ecosystem of partners, certified network professionals and skilled

professionals. We are currently working with large IT vendors. Greenplum's

solutions are available with Sun Microsystems and Oracle.

Will BI adoption grow in India during 2010?



I am quite bullish about the prospects. There are technical challenges in

the country, and skill sets are critical. The future roadmap includes important

technology trends, including virtualization and cloud computing. In addition, BI

is important as to how infrastructure make much agile to users. Greenplum is

focused towards enterprise customers, and today, we store 108 terabytes, which

we are looking to quickly expand.

Muntazir Abbas



muntazira@cybermedia.co.in