The Hindu Business Line : IT security cos bullish on India

BULLISH on opportunities offered by India, IT security firms such as Affiance Group LLC and RSA Security are hoping to rake in substantial revenues from the Indian market.

The Affiance Group, for instance, aims to capture 25 per cent of the Indian electronic security market. "We expect to generate revenues of Rs 15 crore-Rs 18 crore in its first year of operations in India and Rs 30 crore-Rs 35 crore in the second year," Mr Manmohan Singh, CEO, Affiance India, told Business Line. The company recently entered the Indian market directly through its subsidiary, Affiance India.

Research firm IDC India estimates the security software market in India to touch Rs 480 crore by 2008, from Rs 105 crore during 2003. The electronic security market (comprising systems such as closed circuit TVs, wireless and wired cameras), pegged at $100 million, is expected to grow30 per cent per year.

Affiance has estimated the "Indian market to absorb 500 units of the SecurDVR Pro in the first two quarters," said Mr Singh. The flagship product of Affiance, SecurDVR Pro, is a video surveillance recorder that enables digital, remote and online recording. During 2003, the company manufactured 1,200 units of SecurDVR Pro for the North American market.

The high-growth potential offered by India is not limited to the market per se. Affiance has plans to use the cost arbitrage available here. The electronic security provider plans to shift its R&D as well as manufacturing base from Canada to India in the future. According to Mr Singh, Affiance currently has an 11-member R&D team. For RSA Security, the Indian market is likely to register a growth of 50 per cent "as compared to other regions where we expect to grow at 30-40 per cent. India is a strategic market for us with the banking and financial services industry, government, business process outsourcing and manufacturing segments being the key drivers," Mr Sebastian Moore, Vice-President (Asia Pacific), RSA Security, said.

RSA recorded revenues of $280 million last year, with the Asia Pacific region contributing 5-10 per cent. According to Mr Surendra Singh, Head (South Asia), RSA Security, the company would focus on growing the small and medium business segment that is expected to contribute 20 per cent to the company's revenues in India.

RSA expects its authentication product portfolio (including RSA secure ID tokes and authenticators) and the upcoming MS-authentication products (RSA SecurID for Microsoft Windows) to reflect "high usage and spur growth here," added Mr Moore.