Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jeetu Patel, GM of EMC Syncplicity (Part 3)

Jeetu Patel: This kind of flexible hybrid cloud deployment model where security, privacy, compliance, and user experience are not sacrificed is going to be the major trend as applications get built. The cloud has made this third platform B where there are millions of applications available to billions of users. We want to make sure that these billions of users can get the same level of delight in using a consumer-grade application with utmost security and compliance. We also do not sacrifice IT manageability while they’re doing that.

Sramana Mitra: I think what you’re alluding to is cloud being a big driver in the consumerization of IT. Layered on top of that are the current accentuating privacy and security concerns that’s driving us back towards a more centralized model of private cloud from a more distributed model.

Jeetu Patel: Consumerization of IT is being interpreted in different ways. Let’s talk about that for a second. Typically, users want to make sure that they can use the most effective capabilities so they can be as productive as they can be. In fact, cloud has allowed people to fundamentally change work patterns through accessing tools and technologies rapidly. The consumerization of IT doesn’t mean that IT won’t get involved at all. It means that IT gets involved in a completely transparent way. That’s where the nuance and details come in. If you can provide manageability and security in a way that’s not intrusive to the user but in fact enhances the user experience and provides more analytics and predictive insights, then users will be more delighted with enterprise-sanctioned software. They don’t have to go through all the friction that the enterprises create if they don’t have enterprise-sanctioned software.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s talk about Syncplicity. How does that relate to the trends that we are discussing?

Jeetu Patel: The way people work is fundamentally changing. Syncplicity is at a convergence of many of these trends. What problem do people really want to solve today? People have multiple devices. They want to make sure that they can have their files and contents on any of the devices that they might have. They want to be able to seamlessly share that content with people both inside and outside their organizations.

They want to be able to get updates to software as easily as they get with consumer-grade applications in the cloud. What we needed to have was ability for people to get productive with their files and redefine the way people work with their files in the mobile, social, cloud area. Syncplicity has provided users a capability like Dropbox but much better on the user experience, enterprise IT-grade security, and compliance. People can go out and collaborate more effectively with each other.

Sramana Mitra: You cater to enterprises and help their employee base operate in a multi-device mode.

Jeetu Patel: To get more productive and to get their work done.

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jeetu Patel, GM of EMC Syncplicity (Part 2)

Jeetu Patel: The second major trend we’re seeing is that as cloud proliferates, security and the role of security within the cloud is getting accentuated at a very different level to what it used to be in the past. This is getting more exacerbated with some of the things that are happening – with the NSA. At a macro level, how do software vendors build cloud applications that large enterprises and companies that are highly regulated can feel comfortable deploying their sensitive data? That tends to be a major area where there’s going to be a huge amount of investment in the next 10 years.

The third major trend that we’re starting to see is the infrastructure availability. Cloud has been a big trend for a while, but we are seeing a major movement in 2014. This is the year of the hybrid cloud where we feel 100% of our customers will be in a hybrid cloud scenario. According to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), 97% of customers who were early adopters within the public cloud are now looking at hybrid cloud where they want to have sensitive data in the public cloud moved over to the private cloud. That entails deployment flexibility in the cloud. The cloud makes it easier but how does that deployment truly take scale in highly regulated, compliant, security conscious, privacy-driven organizations make the most out of the cloud? That’s where we’re starting to see the model of hybrid cloud really starting to take effect.

Sramana Mitra: Based on what you have said so far, what comes across is that privacy and security concern has come back as a major concern on the cloud. There’s a switch to hybrid cloud even from people who are very comfortable with public cloud. There’s a shift to hybrid cloud at this point in response to that security and privacy concern. Is that accurate?

Jeetu Patel: That’s right. What do people like about the cloud and SaaS? The rapid pace of innovation. What people love is the fact that I can have three-week product release cycles compared to 18 months for on-premise software where people would just wait for the release once every couple of years. That just didn’t create a level of agility in organizations’ consumption of technology. There is a big gap though between the consumption rate of technology and the desire to use the greatest and latest. That’s what they love about the SaaS model. The moment I have a new technology capability that’s made available by the vendor, the users immediately get provisioned. They don’t have that massive delay that most large enterprises have for deploying enterprise software.

What large enterprises don’t like about the cloud is that sometimes highly sensitive and regulated data goes into the public cloud. Major Fortune 100 companies are thinking, “I have thousands of users within my organization and I want to make this an enterprise standard. I want to make sure that everyone has the benefit of having all of these amazing and beautiful applications that they can use on their mobile devices and SaaS platforms.” What we found is an effective operating model that works really well.

What we have done is devise the model so that you can have the application running in the cloud. You can make sure that you, as a customer, have the flexibility of your data either residing in the cloud or on-premise. You decide where your data should be stored depending on the nature of the data because not all contents are created equal. If you have marketing content that you want to share with other people in the public cloud, go ahead and keep it that way. But if you have legal or mergers and acquisitions content that you want to keep on-premise managed by you with your standards and controls, you should be able to do that with any application you deploy.

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jeetu Patel, GM of EMC Syncplicity (Part 1)

For a while, security and privacy concerns around the adoption of cloud computing were eased, which drove huge adoption of public cloud services. In this interview, we explore how the tide is turning and how even early adopters of public cloud are now concerned about security.

Sramana Mitra: Jeetu, let’s introduce our audience to you as well as to EMC Syncplicity.

Jeetu Patel: Thank you for having me here. I am Jeetu Patel, the General Manager of the Syncplicity business unit. Syncplicity is the file sync, share, and collaboration business unit within EMC. We made the acquisition of Syncplicity in May of 2012. Since then, we have had sky rocketing growth of this technology that I will describe to you in a moment. That’s essentially what I do for EMC and Syncplicity.

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Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Tidemark CEO Christian Gheorghe (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: Again, I’m going to ask you to lift yourself out of Tidemark and take a blank sheet of paper in your head. You are a serial entrepreneur and you have started many companies. You have a good understanding of how to look at your industry and find right spaces or gaps in the market. What are some of these gaps that you have identified where you would point entrepreneurs to look into now? I often see opportunities and I am a serial entrepreneur as well. I can see opportunities that other people could work on. What are some of the other opportunities that are on your radar?

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Building Fat Startups: Nasuni CEO Andres Rodriguez (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: I just have one last set of questions before we retire. You are one of the few entrepreneurs I have interviewed who has roots in Latin America. We see entrepreneurial activity in the technology industry from Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs. Why has Latin America been slow on developing in the technology industry?

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Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Tidemark CEO Christian Gheorghe (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: That positions the company in terms of competitive landscape. Now I’m going to ask you to extract yourself out of Tidemark and look at the industry as a whole. What’s happening in the cloud and analytics industry? What are the big trends that you are tracking and actually doing something interesting with? Where do you see the opportunities in that space? What are unsolved problems that you are detecting based on your vantage point?

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Building Fat Startups: Nasuni CEO Andres Rodriguez (Part 6)

Andres Rodriguez: I’ll tell you the short answer. For young entrepreneurs today, they can do it but they have to have technical people in the team that have lots of equity in the company. The one thing that an investor wants to see is the proof point that you have a concept. This is for the kind of company that you were just telling me about where what you’re trying to prove is a concept. It’s really about getting traction or users. I don’t think it has changed as long as you can get a technical team that can work. A group of two or three engineers can build a lot of value to prove a concept in six months. An investor will fund that. That is the way to do it with no track record.

Sramana Mitra: You’re right. That’s a very interesting observation. You can build if it’s a group of highly-skilled engineers who are willing to work for equity and do not cost a lot of cash. You can get to a certain level of validation working with customers and build technology. That is a scenario that can be funded. What I’m saying is, that’s not a concept financing, that is a business financing.

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Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Tidemark CEO Christian Gheorghe (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What about the acting part?

Christian Gheorghe: They have to write back. They have to say, “Now that I understand what’s going on in my business, what can I do about it? Let me just model this particular profitability curve and change my forecast by 10% down.” You need to promote that change across the entire data cloud. There are two ways by which you can accomplish that.

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