CII planning to cash in on cloud computing

Chennai:

Cloud computing is soon going to become a reality in the state and Confederation of Indian Industry has formed a IT panel and one of its mandate is to cash in on the platform to boost business in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence here on Thursday, Vinod Krishnan, convenor IT, ITES and Electronics panel, CII Chennai Zone told Express that the panel is working on how to create Tamil Nadu cloud in the business.

Cloud computing is putting more of the data online and less on personal computers or servers. This means every piece of data one needs will be at fingertips and ready for use. The data must be mobile, transferable, and instantly accessible.

Interestingly, the growth of the smart phones and tab users in India is one of the main reasons why many firms are targeting the state, says Krishnan, who is also the managing director of TVS Infotech. And he may be right. In March, Microsoft International has sought state government’s help in establishment of cloud computing centres.

According to a report titled ‘The Indian Cloud Revolution’ by CII, KPMG and Amarchand Mangaldas, cloud based services can be leveraged by the government to launch new e-governance initiatives quicker and with lower overhead costs.

A common cloud platform will also enable local governments and other public agencies to adopt e-governance for better citizen services, without requiring the setting up of significant IT infrastructure, the report added.

Interestingly, the state government is also planning to roll out its own cloud computing platform and sources said work is progressing on this front. But the real challenge is the infrastructure and the size of the data centers. “Networking and power are critical factors and uninterrupted power is crucial for the growth of this technology,” says Krishnan. These data centres should also be located in areas where land, electricity and other overhead costs make it relatively cheap.