Cloud-computing: The golden age of Indian entrepreneurs - Apna Technologies & Solutions

Every time a train runs on the vast network of tracks laid by the Indian Railways, its safe passage is in some part due to the efforts of a small technology start-up in Bangalore.

The company, Apna Technologies and Solutions, has installed sensors on the side of railway tracks to detect any defective wheels and axles that can cause track fatigue, fractures, derailments and accidents. This data is transmitted to cloudbased servers for storage and analysis with instant reports on defects transmitted to the Railways within seconds.

Apna's founder Baskar Ceri is just one among several Indian entrepreneurs who now use cloud-based servers to deliver complex engineering technology to a host of new users. From increasing safety in railways, addressing inefficiencies in food supply chain, to managing the operations of hotels, Indian entrepreneurs are coming up with unique models that use cloud computing.

In cloud computing, the information is stored and processed on computers 'in the cloud' or the web instead of local servers. This data can then be remotely accessed through a personal computer, cellphone or any other device. "Cloud computing is a gamechanging model.

This is creating opportunities across the entire spectrum of infrastructure, platform, mobile and social media spaces for Indian entrepreneurs," said Naren Gupta, co-founder and MD of Nexus Venture Partners, who has invested in over six cloud computing start-ups in India.

This includes storage company Gluster and Aryaka with a total of around $60 million invested in this sector till date. The global cloud computing market is expected to reach $241 billion in 2020 compared to $40.7 billion in 2010, according to Forrester Research.

Back in India, the current total cloud market of $400 million will grow over 10 times, reaching a market value of $ 4.5 billion, by 2015, according to Zinnov-EMC India Study released in July this year.

Cloudbased services would cost just half of what traditional services would, prompting entrepreneurs across telecom and networking, facilities and fabric, hardware, software, internal labour and external IT services to change track.

"The cloud platform has levelled the playing field for startups and entrepreneurs around the world," said Shane Owenby, managing director, Asia Pacific Amazon Web Services.

On track:

Ceri, who founded Apna in 2004, began with contracts to integrate IT systems in industries such as automotive, defence and engineering services. Apna, which earned Rs 20 crore last year, switched to become a product company nine months ago and turned its focus only on Indian Railways.