Web services, analytics,
Ankit Gupta is the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) of Weblinkindia. In an all-encompassing role, he spearheads the overall Business Development, Client Management, Product Management, and Finances of the company. He defines products and service delivery for the company to attain excellence in providing the great user experience.
Here is a QnA with Ankit about web services, analytics and cloud computing.
What is the current scenario of the business world with regard to the adoption of web services and analytics?
The rapidly evolving business world has responded actively to web services and data analytics. Even bigger industries which do not depend directly on websites and digital marketing for the generation of business see their website presence within the cascade of their overall brand value. The enterprises which depend heavily on web services to generate business online have undoubtedly submitted to the might of web services and are open to further innovations. In fact, analysis of data – both at a broader level and an intricate level – is being leveraged by enterprises of various scales depending on what they are trying to unearth. The horizon that opened with the introduction of the Internet in the 1990s has geared up with the increasing demands of online business and will grow more in the phase of Industry 4.0.
Why it has become integral for companies to opt for web services to sustain in the business world? What is the role of analytics in defining the target clientele and creating a marketing strategy?
I think this is a natural theory of evolution as suggested by Darwin. You evolve or you die. The consumers are evolving and if the business won’t evolve with them and catch them where they are, the business is destined to collapse. The Internet has become the first mode of contact for consumers belonging to all B2B and B2C models. That is why if you don’t have a significant online impression in form of website, application or other electronic forms, the business will become stagnant and eventually collapse. Web services have become a life source for a majority for businesses today.
Analytics is helping companies not just to find the right answers but more importantly to ask the right questions. Analytics help them see things which have been hiding in plain sight and surprise you in more than one ways you can imagine. At the same time, analytics also help to verify the marketing hypothesis and hence makes the businesses confident to invest their money in a particular move.
How mature is the Indian business world in terms of web services, analytics, and technology adoption?
Indian business world is really as diverse as India is. There is all kind of players including corporates, family businesses, Small medium enterprises and different combinations of these three. While corporates respond rapidly to web services, family-owned businesses have been relatively slow to catch up. Indian SMEs are also somewhere in the middle of digital evolution. With the widespread internet connectivity across the Indian subcontinent and nearly a billion smartphones in the market, businesses are compelled to opt for web services and analytics. The Indian market is becoming more technology friendly and this facilitates as a great opportunity for web and tech adoption in businesses. The interdependent growth of the Indian market and web services will pave the path of better future for India.
Where is your stand in bridging the technology gap prevailing in different industry verticals? What are the specialized services offered by you that can change the course of businesses for your clients?
Different verticals need to talk to each other for value creation. But the challenge is – the verticals sometimes are so different from each other that it is difficult to communicate. Technology, however, emerges as a common language, which brings all of them together and makes them learn from each other. For example, the insurance industry has just as much to learn from the retail industry as much as healthcare has to do with energy. There is oneness in the economy and business that needs to be uncovered and explored.
We provide all kind of web services under one single platform with a zero outsourcing model. More than what we have to offer, it is about how we approach it. We believe in solving problems for the client. A brand problem is mighty different from a lead-generation problem and we appreciate the uniqueness of these problems and the businesses. We strategize with them and tell them what works and what don’t. We won’t go on recommending to put all budgets in social media for a client when really he can generate the same business in lower cost with more effectiveness from search-based marketing.
What is going to be the next stage of evolution in web services and cloud computing? How cloud is going to benefit the web services availed by companies?
While it looks like that the web bubble is about to explode, I would say it is still expanding infinitely. The Internet has been human kind’s biggest invention after fire or wheel perhaps and the web services are the manifestation or application of this invention. The next stage of evolution is further personalized marketing and understanding of consumer while keeping data security at the core of it. To be honest, it is still happening but we are definitely going to reach the next level.
Cloud computing has really simplified things for web companies and most importantly, it addresses the dynamic nature of online enterprises. It gives you the flexibility to do more or less, based on how your business and growth are doing.
What transformations do you foresee in the next 5 years in web services and analytics? How will it change the business outlook of tomorrow?
The past decade has already witnessed overcome from a great financial depression and globalization becoming the epicenter of every industry. The coming 5 years will raise the bar several notches higher for web services and analytics specifically, as more and more businesses will depend on these services for their sustenance, growth, and expansion. I support the statistics forecasted (by Statista) that the transactional value of digital commerce alone will cross USD 4.2 trillion by 2023 with a continuous CAGR of 7.1%. With greater implications of web services and analytics, the global market will register a growth of 7-10% in next 5 years. We have already witnessed the dawn of a digital era, and the next five years will bring forth new avenues where web services and analytics will drive a majority of businesses around the world.
