POLYCOM BRACING FOR INDIA OPS EXPANSION

Peerzada Abrar, Bangalore
The Economic Times (Bangalore edition)

US-based Polycom is entering into tie-ups in the retail, healthcare and education sectors for its videoconferencing products as it aims for a tenth of its targeted global 2008 revenues of $2 billion (Rs 8,600 crore) from India.

Polycom, which set up India operations in 2003, will spend $25 million by 2010 to expand its infrastructure and boost staff strength, including in its R&D centre, from 110 to 150, global education market director Russell G Colbert Jr. said. He declined to reveal the company’s current revenues from India. For 2007, the company had sales revenue to the tune of $929.9 million worldwide.

Tie-ups with universities and educational institutions, including IITs in Kharagpur and Kanpur, and partnerships with gem and jewellery merchants are part of the initiatives by Polycom to boost its market presence in India. Colbert said the company has an over 60 percent share of the video-conferencing endpoint market in India.

“Our CAGR in India is 50 percent year-on-year and demand is growing tremendously in content area, besides tools and training,” Colbert said. “The opportunity for us is very ment through 300 Reliance Web stores across India,” the sales head for the government vertical in India and Saarc countries Deepak Satapathy said. Polycom is also investing efforts in the telepresence market for next-generation video-conferencing solutions. The company launched its RealPresence Experience High Definition telepresence solution last year.

Large in India. The country has a teacher-student ratio of 1:75, which is the largest in the world. Our goal is to provide affordable access to technology that allows people to have the best education possible.” Polycom, which derives a major chunk of its business from the government sector, also provides ‘telejustice’ solutions for prison departments to connect jails with courts to cut travel costs.

The company has been working with Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab on SWAN (State Wide Area Network) e-governance project and has bid for similar orders from Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

“The government vertical contributes 30 percent-35 percent to Polycom’s India revenue. We are also targeting Web stores across India where people can interact with each other through video conferencing.