Emerging Storage Markets - Spotlight on India

India has a urban population of 286 million, with Mahrashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, West Bengal and Andra Pradesh accounting for nearly 150 million of these urban people. Additionally, India has a 742 million rural population. Of the total population, some 68 million use banking services and 34 million workers are in manufacturing industries. With the highest person density between the ages of 20-45.
One can view this as huge human capital, which it undoubtedly is. Also, as the economy grows, this same population will result in a very very large data storage market. Consider that a market such as the united states with a population of about 281 million proves to be the largest storage market with its financial, utility and governmental needs (to name a few) fuelling over 50% of the revenues (unsubstantiated at this writing) of most storage companies. 20 years from now given reasonable economic growth India and China will prove to be markets of much larger magnitudes. Already most storage companies have a strong presence in both these markets and are very bullish about the future.

As an example, the drive by the Indian Income Tax department to move filing from paper to electronic forms. Even without a regulatory requirement like Sarbanes-Oxley, the sheer volume of data is stupendous. Take the State Bank of India, The Planning Commission, The Election Commission (Voter ID cards) and you have a database that needs replication, disaster recovery and high availability. Who is tapping these markets today. Oh yeah, we haven't even started with electronic ration cards (cards for availing produce at government controlled retail stores that offer fixed price to low income households).

Many decades ago the major car manufacturers of the United States worked with their government to build roads so that their own sales and revenue would increase, will our storage companies do the same?

The networking economy

The week has mostly been occupied with more bad news on the economy and some more on the political maturity of this country. More on this in another post. Recent events have inspired me to take a stab at what works with networking and what does not work. I decided to take a few steps back and wonder why some networks succeed and others flounder somewhere in sub-space. After a few late night conversations and many beers later, here's something to chew on.

Types of networks

This one I didn't think of at first. SJ made me think this one through. Based on how you enter a network of people, networks themselves can be broadly classified as,

1. Situational, you work together, the same Taekwondo class, shop on the same Wal-Mart aisle.


2. Societal, we need to socialize, at least those of us not living in Flagstaff, Arizona


3. Opportunistic, need to be associated with a successful person


4. Accidental, You don't care, like that business card you gave away

Situational

This is the easiest of networking opportunities, but the hardest to create. Its what happens, at the workplace, the gym and at that friends party. These prove to be the most valuable of networks professionally, because the situation defines a commonality and therefore compatibility. As an example, let us think about why we have great friends in school. It may be because,

1. Economic/Intellectual parity, We can afford to attend the same school or we are equally smart or a combination.
2. Cultural parity, We come from the same cultural.
   
3. Temporal trap, We spend more time together (school ensures you are spending time together) and may be sharing goals.
4. Sociological desire, Our innate desire to want to fit in. Everyone loves to be loved.

Situational networks operate similarly. So next time you are at that party, the gym or staring at an opportunity, ask yourself this

1. What commonalities do I share with this person? (Note : This is pretty hard and you have to think out of the box here)


2. What cultural parity do I have? (Same country, region, are you both immigrants etc.)


3. Do we have an opportunity to spend time?

If the answer is yes to these, then you may have a high chance of a successful network. Two gotcha's come to mind right now.

One, There is always someone who is trying to network specifically with people who do not have any commonalities or cultural parities with her. Such persons are the outliers. Which means, their networks are either amazingly great or amazingly bad. You'll find out soon enough.

Two, What do you do if you answered "No" to most of these questions, but still want to network. You probably still could do that, by manufacturing these requirements to scale your entry barrier. But the going may become increasingly tough as you spend more time in the network.

Societal

Humans demand social gratification by definition. We all want to fit in and be popular. So throwing a party for the neighborhood, starting a garage sale, throwing a Christmas party for your relatives and friends are elements of this need.

Societal networks contain people of similar ethnicity, ideology, locale, or economic strata and importantly are a function of your belonging-ness. For e.g. you need to be a citizen of a particular country, or have lived in a neighborhood for a number of years or have worked in the same company for many many years.

Societal networks are tightly bound.

Let take an example, Immigrants to a new country will find themselves often in Situational as well as Societal networks. Societal networks, by definition, are more likely to be in a position to help you with your daily challenges as you adjust to a new country, neighborhood, climate and workplace.

A friend of mine tells me, how he always wondered where his other friends got the lovely furniture. They didn't seem like they could afford it. After a few months of Societal networking he realized that much of the furniture was Free! and very often in mint condition or requiring little work.

Situational networks on the other hand consist of, your friends at work, at the gym or a coffee shop you frequent. These networks offer memberships in a shorter time period as opposed to Societal networks. You wont be in their Societal network, by just sharing a similar situation you need a stronger commonality.

Opportunistic

Mark, that surgeon who lives down the block. I heard if he recommends you, you can get into John Hopkins for your internship. Gary who lives down the street, his wife's best friend is Mark's assistant. How do we meet Gary?

This is more opportunistic and direct, but several times, we befriend for long term benefits. Opportunistic networks require you to define Societal or Situational parity before you gain entry.

Accidental

I love these, its that sheer accident, didn't think about it type of networking, that just happened. You were playing cricket, the ball went across the fence, you went to fetch it and had a chat with the kid who lived there. Next thing you know, you guys are exchanging greetings.

This is purely accidental.

Networking Opportunity vs. Success

Networking can be viewed like an onion, with your societal network at the core, and the other networks as layers on top. With one network leading to another or they can be viewed as disparate objects. It's how you view it and your attitude that defines your interaction and your success. The success of your network largely depends on YOU. The element you put in is your effort.

In revisiting some earlier networks and examining why they may have worked, we can see that,

School networks are strongly preferential and choice based. They may possess higher diversity depending on the school. However these networks are rarely opportunistic.

Professional networks on the other hand tend to be highly opportunistic and commonalities may not be immediately apparent. Entry barriers could seem high, but forms of viral networking, where you network with A to reach B and ultimately C through B can penetrate these seemingly closed societies.

10 Steps to the Network (or 20, or 30...)

1. Be open, honest and truthful in the why of your interaction.


2. Be ready to lose the network.


3. Network, Network, Network, you'll get burnt beaten, stabbed or worse, but the old adage is still true, no pain, no gain.


4. Approach because you want to, not because you need to. This of course means that you'll have to spend time on this. But I didn't say it was going to be easy.


5. Do something for someone without having to find a reason (yeah, I know, Pay it forward, its cool!)


6. Ask yourself this, "What do I want here?"


7. Accept diversity (this one is harder than you think it is). Have an appreciation of the other persons perspective. You needn't accept it, but knowing it is important.


8. Don't aim to please. Your insincerity has more visibility than the 10 second Ad at Superbowl halftime.


9. Be fun, people want to have a good time, if you are the brooding dark type, that doesn't make you fun, conversely this doesn't mean that you have to be a party animal. Find your fun self. Go do something crazy. The returns on this investment in yourself are very high for you. The rest plays itself in


10. Be ready to try something new. You'll make new friends and gain a perspective.

All the best with your network! and spare a comment or two for this post.

Defining and Extracting Value in Change

One of the problems in India today is our disinclination towards drastic change. We often choose to take the path more travelled and thereby bereft of risk. While this evolutionary methodology give us the stability we expound with so much pride, I believe that we should also chance the odd revolutionary change.

This brings about the question, why should we support change. It could be risky. We could lose all that we have cherished and protected. Is it worth the risk? I think the answer to this question is unlocked by determining the value in change. Value in itself could be short term or long term.

As an illustration, for decades India struggled with what was termed as a Hindu rate of growth resulting in a languishing economy, while the Asian tigers were roaring. Given a young population, this was shocking, but not unexplainable. Manmohan Singh's opening of the till then protectionist economy has shown spectacular results over the past decade and a half. But at the time of implementing this change, there were enough vocal nay-sayers that even the most ardent lobbyists of the free economy would have crumbled into self doubt. But the result of this change is well known.

Let's study another example. India is facing crumbling infrastructure. Our inheritance from the colonialists is all but dying and has neither been improved nor sustained. Yes, we hear about new airports and highways. But take it down to the streets and you notice two things.

1. Lack of proper well designed and laid out pavements.

2. Lack of well laid out roads and systems that allow free vehicular traffic

The resulting situation is that the pedestrian is watching every step he takes to ensure that he does not inadvertently visit an open manhole or drain and the motorist is weaving across the road to avoid a pothole or another unplanned urban obstacle. This is of course on streets that have some semblance of pavements and roads. Many have neither.

The outcome is that, the citizen is busy looking down at the pavement/road rather than looking ahead. I believe that this act of self preservation is what prevents us from looking ahead and walking tall. Our psyche has been damaged to an extent that we tend to look down and inward rather than up and outward and therefore tend to defer change rather than embrace it, withdraw from aggressors rather than meet the challenge and shift blame rather than accept responsibility. Good infrastructure can inspire and challenge people to raise the bar and to achieve objectives they may not have envisioned before.

If we extend the same concept to the work place, we will notice many similar situations. Have you ever wondered why this particular team member is low on motivation or why that particular project is languishing? The reason sometimes may be due to an inward view instead of outward and therefore there may be change opportunities that are being ignored!

Do they have the right tools, the right skills, the right manager, the right assistance. Are factors at the workplace, may be lighting or could be the coffee machine hampering people from asking the right questions, the questions that drive change?