The Hindu Business Line : Fluke Networks keen on expanding here

The company, which belongs to US-based Danaher Corporation group, started its operations here by opening a liaison office in 2006. Considering the market potential for its range of services, it upgraded the office into a subsidiary in March 2008.

Fluke has established offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai and is looking to expand to Pune and Hyderabad. “India is an important market for us in the Asia-Pacific region and we are committed to expanding our presence across the country,” says its Director (Sales and Marketing), Mr Alamuri Sitaramaiah.

While maintaining that the company has invested a few million dollars here in people, offices, proof of concepts and demo labs among others, he said, “I cannot quantify the investment, but see an increasing need for such tools, particularly with the rise in the size of the network and companies aligning IT to business goals.”

Customers need an integrated solution, he reiterated, and explained that “they will need a solution that can help monitor, figure out and resolve the root cause of the problem.”

Network lab

Fluke has started the initiative by investing in a laboratory for network engineering students at Kalasalingam University, near Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

“We set up this lab to equip students and industry members with necessary skills in network troubleshooting, analysis and monitoring, as there is a dearth of skilled professionals in this space. Our trainers teach and train students, besides keeping them abreast of the emerging technologies,” he said.

Though Fluke has no cap on the number of universities that it would probably tie-up with eventually, Mr Sitaramaiah said the company has initiated discussion with several other institutions. “This also means significant investment from the universities’ side. A good number of institutions are struggling to get quality teaching staff. We are, however, supplementing with train-the-trainer type of programmes.”

He further clarified that the company would not rush into establishing such relationship with universities. “If our programme ends up on the shelf of a university, it is of no use to anyone. We are not in a hurry, but will look to increase the number of tie-ups. The need should be felt from all sides — the student, industry and the university,” he said.

China market

Asked to compare the India market with others in terms of network monitoring, he said, “Australia is most advanced with customers having a tool for every aspect of IT management, followed by Japan. China and India are on equal footing when it comes to management of IT infrastructure. The Chinese market, however, is much bigger in size,” he added.