Introduction to Hitachi Vantara
Vighnesh: Welcome to all the viewers of IT Voice Tech News. Today, we have the privilege to sit with Mr. Hemant Tiwari, Managing Director and VP for India and the SAARC region at Hitachi Vantara. We welcome you, sir.
Hemant Tiwari: Thank you for having me.
Vighnesh: Can you brief our audience about Hitachi Vantara?
Hemant Tiwari: Absolutely. In simple terms, Hitachi Vantara helps customers build a data foundation for innovation. This means we work with our customers to help them leverage data throughout its lifecycle within their organizations. We specialize in data infrastructure solutions, helping customers manage the complexity of their data. By bringing out meaningful insights from that data, we assist them in building innovative solutions, offering predictive, reactive, and proactive insights. Ultimately, we enable them to monetize their data effectively.
Hitachi Vantara is a key player in the IT industry, known for our extensive expertise in data management, analytics, and infrastructure. Our solutions cover a wide range of areas, including data storage, cloud services, and advanced analytics, all aimed at helping organizations derive maximum value from their data. We partner with businesses across various sectors, providing them with the tools and technologies they need to drive innovation and achieve their strategic goals.
Hitachi Vantara’s Commitment to Partnerships
Vighnesh: How important is the Indian market for Hitachi Vantara, and what drives your commitment to fostering strong partnerships?
Hemant Tiwari: India is a very strategic market for Hitachi Vantara. It’s not just about growing our revenue; it’s also about leveraging the significant talent in India to develop solutions that we can take to the entire world. India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, presenting immense opportunities. We look at India both as a market for our solutions and as a hub for developing innovations that can be deployed globally.
We understand that to be successful in India, we need to foster strong partnerships. Our entire business model is built on collaboration with our partners. These partnerships enable us to offer comprehensive solutions to our customers, combining our technology with the specialized services and expertise that our partners bring to the table. This collaborative approach helps us address the diverse needs of our customers more effectively.
Vighnesh: Recently, Hitachi Vantara invested $200,000 in a product showcase program to support Indian partners. Can you tell us more about this program and its objectives?
Hemant Tiwari: Our business is partner-led and partner-delivered. We don’t do direct billing to our customers in India, even though we have the capability. We believe scale comes from leveraging the partner ecosystem. Partners bring complementary solutions that, together with our offerings, fulfill customer needs. The program aims to enable partners by providing them access to our technology. This helps them build centers of expertise, showcase our technology, conduct proof of concepts, and ultimately solve customer problems more effectively. The program is not limited to a select few; we offer demo systems to many of our partners across India.
The objective is to empower our partners to become proficient in our technology, allowing them to provide better solutions and services to their customers. By giving them hands-on experience with our products, we ensure they can deliver high-quality support and leverage our technology to its fullest potential.
Empowering Partners
Vighnesh: Can you share more about how Hitachi Vantara empowers its partners and the impact this has on your business?
Hemant Tiwari: Empowering our partners is a core part of our strategy. We believe that our success is intertwined with the success of our partners. To achieve this, we provide comprehensive training programs, technical support, and access to our latest technologies. Our partners receive ongoing education about our products and solutions, ensuring they are always up-to-date with the latest advancements.
We also offer financial incentives and support mechanisms to help our partners grow their businesses. This includes marketing support, joint go-to-market strategies, and co-investment in customer engagements. By working closely with our partners, we can create a more robust and integrated ecosystem that benefits everyone involved.
One of the key ways we empower our partners is through our Product Showcase Program. This initiative allows partners to set up their own centers of excellence where they can demonstrate our technology to potential customers. These centers provide a space for partners to conduct proof of concepts, show real-world applications of our solutions, and highlight the value they can deliver. This hands-on approach helps partners build credibility and trust with their customers, ultimately driving more business for both them and us.
India Growth Strategy
Vighnesh: Can you share Hitachi Vantara’s vision for future growth within India? What are the key areas you are focusing on?
Hemant Tiwari: As a data infrastructure company, we see growth opportunities driven by the explosion of data within enterprises. In India, we have a strong presence in the Banking and Financial Services sector, and we plan to continue growing in this area by earning the trust of our customers and helping them meet regulatory compliances. We are also focusing on the commercial market, which includes a vast array of businesses from mid-sized to large enterprises. Additionally, the government’s investment in infrastructure, including data centers, presents significant opportunities. We see manufacturing as another key growth area, where our new portfolio of solutions can address complex, data-driven problems.
Our growth strategy in India revolves around a few key pillars:
1. Expanding Our Presence in Key Sectors: We already have a strong foothold in the Banking and Financial Services sector, and we aim to build on this by introducing new solutions that address the evolving needs of this industry. We are also targeting other sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and public sector, where there is significant potential for growth.
2. Leveraging Government Initiatives: The Indian government is making substantial investments in infrastructure, including smart cities and digital India initiatives. We see these as opportunities to collaborate with government bodies and provide the technology solutions needed to support these projects.
3. Fostering Innovation: We are committed to driving innovation through our solutions and partnerships. This includes developing new technologies and leveraging emerging trends such as AI and machine learning to create more intelligent and efficient systems.
4. Strengthening Partner Ecosystem: Our partners play a crucial role in our growth strategy. By empowering them with the right tools, training, and support, we can extend our reach and better serve our customers across different regions and industries.
Success Stories
Vighnesh: Can you share some success stories or examples of how Hitachi Vantara has made a significant impact in India?
Hemant Tiwari: Certainly. We have numerous success stories that highlight our impact in India. One example is our work with a major Indian bank. The bank faced challenges in managing its growing volume of data and needed a robust solution to enhance its data management capabilities. We provided them with an integrated data solution that not only improved their data storage and management but also enabled advanced analytics, helping them make more informed decisions and improve customer service.
Another success story is our collaboration with a leading manufacturing company. They needed a solution to streamline their operations and enhance efficiency. We implemented our data infrastructure solutions, which allowed them to better manage their data, optimize their supply chain, and improve overall productivity. The results were significant cost savings and enhanced operational efficiency.
In the public sector, we have partnered with various government agencies to support their digital transformation initiatives. For example, we have worked on projects related to smart city development, where our solutions have helped improve urban infrastructure, enhance citizen services, and promote sustainable development.
These are just a few examples of how Hitachi Vantara is making a difference in India. Our focus on innovation, customer-centric solutions, and strong partnerships has enabled us to deliver tangible results and drive value for our clients.
Shaping the Future of Collaboration
Vighnesh: With advancements in technology, how is Hitachi Vantara shaping the future of collaboration in the technology landscape, particularly in India?
Hemant Tiwari: India is home to numerous startups, software developers, AI innovators, cloud service providers, and data center operators. We collaborate across this ecosystem to help customers address data challenges. We work with cloud service providers, data center operators, AI startups, and system integrators to build a relevant ecosystem. This collaboration helps us deliver comprehensive solutions that address customer needs. We also leverage AI and data center capabilities to enhance our offerings, providing integrated solutions for multi-cloud environments and AI-optimized industrial use cases.
For example, we have established partnerships with leading AI startups to integrate their innovative solutions with our data infrastructure. This enables us to offer advanced AI capabilities to our customers, helping them unlock new insights and drive business growth. We also collaborate with system integrators to deliver end-to-end solutions that combine our technology with their expertise in specific industries.
Our approach to collaboration extends beyond just technology partners. We also work closely with academic institutions and research organizations to stay at the forefront of technological advancements and drive continuous innovation. By fostering a collaborative ecosystem, we can deliver more comprehensive and impactful solutions to our customers.
Conclusion
Vighnesh: Do you have any final remarks or insights about Hitachi Vantara’s journey and future plans in India?
Hemant Tiwari: Hitachi Vantara has been in India since around 2002, but Hitachi Limited has been present since 1939. We have a vast ecosystem of sister organizations in various industry verticals, including transportation, energy, payment services, and IT services. Our strategic focus is not only on growing our business in India but also on leveraging Indian talent to build solutions for global markets. We have invested in building a Global Delivery Center in India, supporting our customers globally. This center handles product development, testing, and solution management.
