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Briefs
Cubix-Aten go after KVM market
With server deployments in data centres and among corporates
on the rise, KVM switches are gaining acceptance. The Indian market is fast
realising the importance of this technology, and analysts peg the market for
KVM solutions in India at approximately $ 6 million.
Cubix Micro Systems India, a KVM solutions provider, has been tracking the growth
of this product segment. According to Nitin Naik, Director of the company, “The
KVM market has been growing quickly during the last three years.” Naik
says that the growth has been in the range of 30 to 40 percent. Cubix has entered
into a tie-up with Aten, which is their only distributor in India. With 12 annual
premium partners and almost 40 active resellers, Cubix is confident of its reach
in the market. “We plan to increase the premium partners by at least 25
percent this year,” reveals Naik.
Cost savings accruing from a single switch that control thousands
of servers are behind this technology’s popularity. With the market accepting
these products, there are other players eyeing this space, including Hanut India,
D-Link, Avocent, Raritan and Cyclades. Naik says that the competition is primarily
from American and Taiwanese companies. In the Indian market, it is D-Link and
Avocent India. “We have almost 60 percent of the market,” states Naik.
However, he feels that they have an edge as they are into providing switches
for managing anything from 2 to 1,000 servers.
With a presence in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, Cubix plans
to open three more branches at Kolkata, one in North India, and one at Coimbatore
or Kerala. “We feel that these would be the future IT hubs and hence want
to be there first to offer our services,” says Naik. The pricing for a
16-port KVM switch starts from $ 2,000. Some of the features available with
these products are modem connectivity, Web-based solutions, and log-in and log-out
records.
With the shift from analog to digital switches, Naik believes that remote management
is set to become popular in India. The company has plans with Aten International
to introduce some new products in this category. Some of the flagship products
that are available in India include KN9116-KVM over Net, PM108-remote power
management over Net, and the SN Series-serial over IP.
The other trend that Naik sees are the LCD KVM switches and power over IP. “LCD
KVM switches are foldable, and thus allow space management, which is becoming
crucial for organisations today. Power over IP is a favourite as it allows one
to administer from anywhere,” explains Naik.
With customers including Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, L&T and Siemens, the company
is now looking to target verticals such as government, defence, BFSI and BPO.
Naik feels that the demand is greater for high-end products. “Along with
Aten, we will soon introduce products that are high-end in terms of functionality.”
As this market is set to grow at an average of 40 percent CAGR for the next
three years, Cubix believes that its prospects are bright.
—Shivani Shinde
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