We want to increase our channel base with dedicated partners

With the Indian market bouncing back from the slowdown, and a channel base of
around 125 partners, Jain expect a growth in the range of 45-50 percent

Tell us about some of GajShield's recent initiatives.

We recently had a product launch wherein we showcased the only UTM device
with DLP capability available in the country. This product is a result of the
pioneering product development work we did over the last one year at our R&D
center in Mumbai. The reason we launched this device is because we have been
seeing that a lot of customers are increasingly worried about the threat to the
security of their data from an internal source. One of the advantages of this
product is that unlike conventional security devices which tend to slowdown the
performance of the hardware, this device offers better security without
affecting the overall system performance. We have done a few beta launches of
the product and also have a proof of concept deployment ready, so that it is
easy to show the customer what we are talking about. The test results for the
device show a performance improvement of anywhere between 40 and 60 percent over
that of conventional UTMs.

What is your go-to-market strategy for this product?

We offer the product in two forms. One is the hardware box and the other is
as a SaaS offering, which is a cloud-based solution that is hosted from our end.
We feel that SMB customers would opt for the cloud-based service offering as it
is definitely easier on the pocket with the difference being as much as a 50
percent reduction in the TCO. The service model we offer is for a user range
between 15 to 1500 users and it is a pay per use revenue model. This is quite
convenient for SMB customers who do not have big budgets to set aside for IT
security infrastructure.

What are your plans for the channel this year?

We have a current channel base of around 125 partners with about 75
registered partners and 50 Gold level partners. We will be looking to increase
this base but our focus is not on the numbers but on the kind of dedicated
quality partners we can get to do business with. Gold partners are entitled to
round the clock training and also receive priority service and sales support
from our side. Also, we understand that it is important for our partners to be
trained on our products and security technologies so that they can be more
effective when they talk to the end-customers. Hence we also offer online
training modules for our partners where they can work on virtual appliances from
their own locations. Another plan we have is to appoint more channels as our
franchisee partners for the cloud-based service offering that we have. At
present we have about 12 such franchisees that help customers implement the
cloud-based solution and then take responsibility of hosting and managing it on
their own. We have seen interest from partners in signing up as franchisees as
it is definitely an upsell opportunity for them where they can try and also
lock-in with the customer.

Give us a picture of your financials and also highlight your company's
plans for the year.

Our global turnover stands at about $5 million, and we grew at a single digit
rate over the last year and this is because it was a tough year for us. Going
forward however, we expect strong growth in the range of 45-50 percent as the
Indian market bounces back from the slowdown. We have a customer base of around
1,500, most of which are concentrated in India but also have others in the
Middle-East, Europe, South America and South-east Asia. We are looking at the
North American market where we intend to offer our service solution through an
outsourcing business model. GajShield is also aligning internal resources to
target certain specific verticals. For instance we are looking at forming
dedicated teams to target the education, government and enterprise verticals. We
are also looking to expand our sales office presence to tier-2 cities and while
we are stronger in the North and West regions, we want to increase our focus on
markets in the South and East as well.

John Jacob

johnj@cybermedia.co.in