EIITF unveils potential of SMEs
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The second edition of the Eastern India Information Technology Fair - 2011 (EIITF - 2011) concluded successfully on 29th July, 2011 in Kolkata. The event attracted once again one of the largest gathering from the IT industry from Eastern India. The event started with the lighting of the traditional lamp and personages like Arindam Dutta, Chairman Innovation & Incubation Mentor; R. Ravi, Head -Global & Strategic Initiatives, HCL Infosystems Ltd.; Kapil Awasthi, Security Consultant, Check Point Software Technologies; and Mohammed Nasir, Sr. Marketing Manager - CSP, Canon India Pvt. Ltd., were present at the ceremony.
During the morning session, Arindam Dutta spoke about the need for the involvement of more and more young entrepreneurs as the youth are highly tech-savvy and brimming with new and evolutionary ideas. He further said that the government should provide the initial handholding to the newcomers.
Secondly, Sumith Satheesan, Head, Pre-Sale, India and SAARC, Cyberoam, shared data usage patterns and the related emerging security concerns. R. Ravi, of HCL Infosystems Ltd., shared details about cloud and how and why SMEs were really keen about this technology in particular. Kapil Awasthi, of Check Point, shared details about how they are enabling digitizing of SMEs in West Bengal.
The morning session concluded with Panel discussions on Cloud Services - Opportunities for SMEs, which was moderated by R. Ravi from HCL Infosystems. The panellists included Arindam Dutta; Kapil Awasthi of Check Point Software; Sumith Satheesan of Cyberoam; and Mohit Puri, Country Manager, WatchGuard Inc. If it discussed the need for SMEs to look at Cloud Computing as an intelligent and cost-effective IT infrastructure, then it was also highlighted that vendors should make extra efforts for positioning Cloud as the best RoI giving IT infrastructure to them. Arindam Dutta, in his valedictory address, said Cloud providers will have to ensure delivery of the promise they put on papers.
The lamp lighting ceremony of the evening session was attended by 300 guests. Hon'ble chief guest, Shri Partha Chatterjee, Minister In-Charge, Department of Industry and Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs, Public Enterprises, Industrial Reconstitution, IT, Government of West Bengal; B. Hari, President, COMPASS; Manjit Nayak , Additional Director, STPI, Government of India; Alok Garodia, Chairman, Jupiter International Ltd.; Arindam Dutta, Chairman, Incubation Mentor; Piyush Kumar Agarwal, AGM -Marketing, HCL Infosystems Ltd.; Shrikant Gupta, Regional Head, Motorola Solutions India; Rajeev Saxena, Business Head, ECC, HCL Infosystems Ltd.; Smt. Aditi Ganguli, General Manager - East, Lenovo India; Mohit Puri, Country Manager, WatchGuard Inc.; Lakshmi Kumar, DGM - Enterprise Sales, Microworld Software Services Pvt. Ltd.; Kapil Awasthi, of Check Point Software Technologies; Hemal Patel, CEO, Elitecore Technologies; and Pawan Jajodia, Past President, COMPASS, graced the occasion.
Manjit Nayak, Additional Director, STPI, Government of India, spoke about "Opportunities within STPI through the size of the group", followed by B. Hari, President, COMPASS, sharing "Role of COMPASS in the promotion of IT in West Bengal". He also introduced the newly-formed Confederation of IT Associations in the entire eastern region.
In his address, Shri Partha Chatterjee shared the vision of the new Government on digitizing SMEs in Kolkata. He said that the new Government welcomed all those who were interested to work for the welfare of the state and penetration of IT.
Rajeev Saxena, Business Head, ECC, HCL Infosystems Ltd., presented his views on "Opportunities for Channel Partners Ahead". He welcomed the channel community to partner with them and promoted a slogan, "SMEs - Transform Your Business with HCL".
Shrikant Gupta, Motorola Solutions India, informed the audience about the various business groups of Motorola and then spoke about his division to give the perspective of Motorola Solutions India. He also highlighted the contribution of Channel Partners in bringing success to their business modules from Wireless to Wi-Fi.
Sumith Satheesan, Head, Pre-Sale, India and SAARC, Cyberoam, spoke on Cyberoam's identity-based approach that promises, securing homes to enterprises in West Bengal.
Kapil Awasthi, Security Consultant, Check Point Software Technologies, threw light on the services offered by Check Point in the country. Last but not the least, Mohit Puri of WatchGuard spoke about their service offerings on Security.
The event concluded on an optimistic note with vendors and partners having a meaningful and fruitful networking.
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