“Increasing usage of mobile phones, cyber cafes and ATMs, makes India a very interesting market for PortWise”

Kaushik Thakkar of Sweden-based security software company - PortWise - was here to announce the appointment of Select Technologies as its national distributor. According to him, India is a market with great business potential. The country’s emerging prowess in BPO has only strengthened his belief about business opportunities are waiting to be tapped here. Kaushik tells DQCI PortWise’s plans to tap the bank/finance/insurance segment and the service provider segment with a range of security software.

Kaushik Thakkar VP–Strategic Development, PortWise AB

We will soon decide where to set up a 24-hour support-line and about the introduction of testing and integration

What products is PortWise introducing in India?

PortWise is a security software company providing solutions for authentication and mobile VPN (client-less VPN). For our products no client installation is required, and users can securely access their internal systems through any Internet connected device.

For India market, we are right now launching the products - PortWise mID and PortWise
mVPN.

PortWise mID is our authentication solution, with which we provide three principal methods for authentication. These include the Java online token, which is a 1-factor authentication solution and a SMS token, which is a two-factor solution, as the user will be required to have a cellphone as well as credentials.

The last is the Installable token, which is also a two-factor authentication solution, where our token can be installed on any PC, handheld device such as pocket PC, but mainly on all Java-enabled
cellphones.

PortWise mVPN is our mobile VPN solution, which provides the user with a client-less VPN solution. Gartner defines this area as SSL
VPN.

What potential does the Indian market hold for PortWise’s business?

India has an infrastructure well-suited for our products. There are a few areas which we are targeting right now. Firstly, the cyber-cafe culture is very popular here. With our products, people can access their business systems with added security from any cyber cafe. 

There is tremendous mobile phone growth and penetration in the country. And lastly, India is gaining strength in BPO. This is a good business opportunity for us as it will require a good security solution for international customers.

Internet and its uses are on the rise in India. Banks are getting automated. All these things makes India a very interesting market for
PortWise.

What will be your channel strategy? And what is Select Technologies’ role in it?

Since we are a 100% channel company, we will target the most appropriate partners in the four metros. We will have a mix of national systems integrators and local security companies with a good track record in our channel network.

Select Technologies will be the lengthened arm for PortWise here. Besides logistics, administration and finance, it will also do brand management, channel management and business development.

How many channel partners do you have worldwide and in India?

Today, we have a presence in 25 countries and have over 50 channel partners worldwide. Prior to the partnership with Select Technologies, we had signed four partners. We plan to have eight more dealers. However, all channels associated with Select Technologies can resell our products.

Will PortWise set up a liaison office or a subsidiary in India? 

We have a long-term plan for India. At this stage we will have representatives according to the need in different regions. These representatives will work very tightly with Select Technologies. Depending on how business develops, we will make our presence stronger in India. 

By next year, we will decide where to set up a 24-hour support-line and whether to introduce some testing and integration as well. If the market in India meets our targets, there is big possibility we will place these in India. 

Is this the first time PortWise is making its presence in India?

PortWise, with the former name Lemon Planet, had actually entered India 10 months ago mainly to learn about the business prospects, and also to see if India was a suitable market for us. We also have several of our existing customers as NCC, Skanska and Ericsson using our solutions from India. But our aim was to see the interest generated here. 

The interest shown was so great, that we planned an entry. We signed up partners like Comsat Max, Datacraft, Global Esecure and ICICI Infotech. This year, we signed an exclusive partnership with Select Technologies. 

So though this is the first time we are entering the Indian market officially, we did a thorough analysis before taking the final plunge in April.

What is your marketshare worldwide? And what target have you set for India?

Within the SSL VPN segment we are one of the top three companies. It is very difficult to calculate the marketshare on revenue as most of these leading companies are privately held. But we estimate our marketshare to be about 12-13% on a global basis. We hope to touch a turnover of $4,00,000 to $5,00,000 in India this year. We have within a couple of weeks already made between $60,000-$1,00,000. The next coming years we are calculating of a growth of about 300-400% annually.

Who are your potential customers? and How do you plan to address these customers?

In India, our solutions will be targeted at bank/finance/insurance segment as well as the service providers. MNCs have also evinced interest in our products. We are focusing on specific segments at the moment and will target these together with Select Technologies. 

NELSON JOHNY in Mumbai