In an interview with TechGraph, Mohan Subrahmanya, Insight – Country Head discusses the company’s strategic plans for tapping into India’s thriving cloud market and fostering tech talent through partnerships and acquisitions.
Read the complete interview:
TechGraph: Can you tell us more about Insight’s IT services offerings and how they differentiate from competitors in the market?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Insight is a global Fortune 500 solutions integrator helping clients at every stage of their digital and IT transformation journey. We’re in a unique position – we have a comprehensive mix of strengths in hardware, software, and services to offer comprehensive solutions as a single partner that drives business outcomes at a speed and scale that other competitors simply cannot provide.
Accelerating transformation means unlocking people and technology’s power. Our portfolio of digital transformation services includes deep expertise in cloud, intelligent edge, data, AI, and cybersecurity, built on the knowledge of 5,700+ skilled, certified consulting and service delivery professionals.
Combined with our deep relationships with 6,000+ partners, and our robust software and hardware supply chain capabilities, we deliver timely, right-fit technology solutions to clients around the globe.
TechGraph: With the rise of digital transformation, how is Insight helping clients navigate the challenges of implementing new technologies?
Mohan Subrahmanya: The most innovative organizations see today’s macro-environment challenges as an opportunity to make market gains by performing with enhanced agility than their competitors. Insight has the unique ability to handle all of this as a single partner that can help a client design a digital strategy based on their business objectives, build customized solutions, recommend the best technologies to enable it, and then help them manage it over time.
TechGraph: With the increasing demand for cloud computing solutions, how is Insight positioned to support businesses in / cloud migration journeys?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Cloud technology forms the backbone of Insight, although it is not the only technology leveraged by the company. We have partnerships with leading cloud service providers like Microsoft, Google, and AWS. Insight Cloud Care for Azure is a public cloud managed service designed to provide best-in-class monitoring, management, and technical support for the Microsoft Azure platform. It can help your enterprise optimize public cloud solutions, consumption, and spending with concierge support, advanced tools, and managed service offerings.
Strengthening our cloud capabilities in June 2022, Insight acquired Hanu Software Solutions, a privately held Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Services provider operating in India.
We see India as one of the fastest-growing markets for cloud and forward tech talent. We intend to make additional acquisitions in India to grow our cloud talent pool. Along with this capacity expansion, we also partner with leading universities in India and talent communities to train youth on the latest cloud technologies through our cloud academy programs.
TechGraph: What is Insight’s approach to cybersecurity, and how do you ensure client data remains secure?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Cybersecurity continues to be a top area of focus for companies navigating their digital transformation journey. According to the Insight-commissioned Foundry survey “The Path to Digital Transformation”, 51% of IT leaders admitted to being impacted by a cybersecurity breach in the last 12 months.
As a Solutions Integrator, Insight has helped organizations strengthen their infrastructure and secure data and networks for 35 years. Clients benefit from deep expertise across security framework implementation, cross-platform security, GRC, and more.
To develop solutions, we blend deep knowledge and industry-leading technologies from key security partners — from Cisco to Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, VMware, and more. We are proud to be independent integrators, offering clients a real choice in solutions.
TechGraph: With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating remote work adoption, what solutions has Insight provided to help businesses support their remote workforce?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Successful companies know their people are the impact factor — improving attraction and retention, providing innovative collaborative experiences through technology, leading through change, and more. Companies need help executing these evolving work models, planning for engagement, and managing workplace transformation/modernization overall.
Through assessments and strategy engagements, comprehensive device services (DaaS, Managed Endpoint, warehousing, etc.), end-user adoption and training, enterprise, and end-user support services and more — we help clients increase ROI on workplace technology purchases. In the process, our clients benefit from improving workplace experience and productivity, reducing risk, simplifying IT management, and boosting mobile capabilities.
TechGraph: How does Insight approach IT solutions customization to meet each client’s unique needs?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Meeting our clients where they are on their journey is at the core of how we deliver value. We understand their business objectives, the IT investments they have made, their current technical direction, and more — to make an informed decision about a digital strategy.
We are unique as solutions integrators because we engage with our clients at every step of this process. We help them innovate when and where it makes sense. The combination of 30+ years of experience, our own IP, and deep partnerships with leading technology vendors gives us great foresight into opportunities for our clients.
TechGraph: Can you discuss any partnerships or collaborations Insight has formed to enhance its IT services offerings?
Mohan Subrahmanya: In 30 years, we evolved from a hardware and software vendor to also delivering consulting and managed services — through several strategic acquisitions and focused growth. Today, we can connect the dots across a client’s entire business, helping them realize the full spectrum of transformation outcomes.
In 2015, our acquisition of technology architecture firm BlueMetal added more customer experience services. Insight acquired a cadre of managed service providers, consultancies, cloud service providers, and other partners over the last seven years.
Apart from a strong M&A strategy, Insight has deep relationships with 6,000+ partners. With our robust software and hardware supply chain capabilities, we deliver timely, right-fit technology solutions to clients around the globe.
TechGraph: As technology evolves, what steps is Insight taking to stay at the forefront of IT innovation?
Mohan Subrahmanya: Insight is ahead of the curve in understanding what modern businesses need to succeed in an ever-changing and often uncertain market. We are well-positioned in the fastest-growing markets.
We are passionately focused on delivering against our strategic pillars of captivating clients, selling solutions, delivering differentiation, and championing our culture.
We have nearly $1.5bn in financing capacity to fuel our M&A strategy in 2023. We will carefully evaluate our acquisitions to support our solutions business in key growth areas such as cloud, data, AI [artificial intelligence], and cyber. The plan is to identify and acquire high-performing companies and consolidate them.
TechGraph: Finally, how does Insight balance the need for innovation with the importance of maintaining stability and reliability in IT services?
Mohan Subrahmanya: In our upcoming 2023 Insight Intelligent Technology Report, we found that the innovation imperative is now centered on an “optimize to innovate” approach. Focus has shifted to increasing resilience, reducing vulnerabilities caused by outdated infrastructure, and maximizing IT resources.
This is right in line with what Insight does best, and at tremendous scale. Clients can maximize their current in-house resources and reduce operational costs — objectives that, when achieved, act as a launchpad for transformation and innovation.