BENGALURU: Chennai-based software maker Zoho is focused on making its products more intuitive and appealing to end users amid a growing trend of no longer treating business software as a utilitarian product but one that can work across personal devices that employees bring to the office.
"There have been so many instances that people sign up independent of their corporate policy," said Sridhar Vembu, chief executive of Zoho, which competes with some of the largest enterprise software makers such as Microsoft and Google.
Over the past four years, the company has learned to consciously think about design so that its suite of enterprise software comes with a friendly, easy-to-use interface.
This phenomenon of consumerisation of IT - where enterprises are coping with changes brought on by end consumers and tech-savvy employees - is in turn benefiting start-ups that are primed for this transformation.
"Every CIO's top agenda today is to do something with start-ups," said Lalit Ahuja, co-founder of Kyron accelerator and former managing director of the Indian arm of US-based Target Corp.
Thanks to mobility and cloud, large enterprises are trying to appeal to and make themselves visible to their end consumer.
"Enterprise software is beginning to become cool. That's the new mantra," said Virender Aggarwal, CEO of Ramco Systems. "Phones can support so many apps, employees demand cool software for internal IT teams," said Aggarwal, whose company is working with several start-ups to augment its everyday IT needs.
Gone are the days when enterprises would buy licences for software, install them on each system and spend a few days training employees to work on it. The intuitive interface and the subscription-based services of cloud-based products and services have eliminated it all.
"Start-ups have now started enterprise grade software, robust in quality and security," said Jayant Kolla, analyst at Convergence Catalyst.
Being mobile-first economies that skipped the desktop era, the leaders in the consumerisation trend are China and India, followed by Brazil and Mexico, according to the US-based Burrus Research.
Consumerisation of IT can help not just start-ups but is imperative to enterprises as well, according to experts.
"Additionally, your Gen-Y and Gen-X employees are very techno-savvy and need to use what they consider to be the newest devices so they can feel empowered," said Daniel Burrus, CEO of Burrus research, adding that better communication, collaboration and greater satisfaction of the workforce can be achieved through consumerisation of IT.
Earlier this year, VMWare acquired AirWatch for $1.54 billion (about Rs 9,537 crore), to help professionals seamlessly access their private cloud from a multitude of devices.
But with mobility comes the threat of security of data. Two-year-old i7 Networks, which sells security solutions for the BYOD age, has bagged Aditya Birla group, online bus ticketing service Redbus and IT firm Happiest Minds as his customers. "The IT teams have no control over what devices employees bring," said CEO Manjunath Gowda, whose company is growing at 50% every year and expects revenue of $1 million (about Rs 6 crore) in the next two years.
Previously, IT companies in India moved slow on technology, laying a greater emphasis on robustness than efficiency. "Now, we're past that stage. Companies want efficiency; products that will give them an edge over their competitors," said Akilesh Tuteja , an analyst at professional services firm KPMG. "And start-ups are best positioned to do that."
"There have been so many instances that people sign up independent of their corporate policy," said Sridhar Vembu, chief executive of Zoho, which competes with some of the largest enterprise software makers such as Microsoft and Google.
Over the past four years, the company has learned to consciously think about design so that its suite of enterprise software comes with a friendly, easy-to-use interface.
This phenomenon of consumerisation of IT - where enterprises are coping with changes brought on by end consumers and tech-savvy employees - is in turn benefiting startups that are primed for this transformation.
"Every CIO's top agenda today is to do something with startups," said Lalit Ahuja, co-founder of Kyron accelerator and former managing director of the Indian arm of US-based Target Corp.
Thanks to mobility and cloud, large enterprises are trying to appeal to and make themselves visible to their end consumer.
"Enterprise software is beginning to become cool. That's the new mantra," said Virender Aggarwal, CEO of Ramco Systems. "Phones can support so many apps, employees demand cool software for internal IT teams," said Aggarwal, whose company is working with several startups to augment its everyday IT needs.
Gone are the days when enterprises would buy licences for software, install them on each system and spend a few days training employees to work on it. The intuitive interface and the subscriptionbased services of cloud-based products and services have eliminated it all.
"Startups have now started enterprise grade software, robust in fessionals seamlessly access their private cloud from a multitude of devices. But with mobility comes the threat of security of data. Twoyear-old i7 Networks, which sells security solutions for the BYOD age, has bagged Aditya Birla group, online bus ticketing service Redbus and IT firm Happiest Minds as his customers. "The IT teams have no control over what devices employees bring," said CEO Manjunath Gowda, whose company is growing at 50% every year and expects revenue of $1 million (about Rs 6 crore) in the next two years.
Previously, IT companies in India moved slow on technology, laying a greater emphasis on robustness than efficiency. "Now, we're past that stage. Companies want efficiency; products that will give them an edge over their competitors," said Akhilesh Tuteja, an analyst at professional services firm KPMG. "And startups are best positioned to do that." quality and security," said Jayant Kolla, analyst at Convergence Catalyst.
Being mobile-first economies that skipped the desktop era, the leaders in the consumerisation trend are China and India, followed by Brazil and Mexico, according to the US-based Burrus Research.
Consumerisation of IT can help not just startups but is imperative to enterprises as well, according to experts.
"Additionally, your Gen-Y and Gen-X employees are very technosavvy and need to use what they consider to be the newest devices so they can feel empowered," said Daniel Burrus, CEO of Burrus research, adding that better communication, collaboration and greater satisfaction of the workforce can be achieved through consumerisation of IT.
Earlier this year, VMWare acquired AirWatch for $1.54 billion (about Rs 9,530 crore).
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