In an exclusive conversation with CXO News – APAC News Network, Balaji Rao, Area Vice President, India & SAARC, Commvault explains how the company has eliminated the need for expensive Data Center infrastructure while focusing on AI to enhance resilience.
What are the solutions and services currently in the Commvault portfolio in India?
Commvault has always been at the forefront of cyber resiliency focusing on an approach to create the ‘ultimate weapon against ransomware’. One of our recent flagship offerings is the Commvault Cloud, a centralized hub bringing together security, AI, and recovery in a single unified platform. With a suite of AI- and ML-driven data protection and security solutions, it enables faster threat prediction, faster threat response, and clean data recovery. What sets Commvault Cloud apart is its ability to support entire IT environments, whether they are on-premises, private clouds, or public clouds, aligning perfectly with India’s hybrid approach to cyber resilience.
Additionally, Commvault is eliminating the need for expensive data center infrastructure with the launch of the Cleanroom Recovery offering. This offering is a game-changer for Indian organizations, allowing them to avoid the complexities of managing duplicate environments. Cleanroom Recovery caters to both software and Software as a Service (SaaS) customers, facilitating automated recovery, and offering a secure and isolated environment for testing cyber recovery plans, conducting forensic analysis, and ensuring business continuity across diverse workloads.
Commvault has also made strides with a new generative AI tool, ‘Arlie,’ short for autonomous resilience, that consolidates information and provides actionable real-time responses to help save time, respond to threats quickly, and improve cyber resiliency.
Which are the key verticals where Commvault is witnessing maximum traction currently in India? Which are some of the referenceable marquee installations and what are some of these use cases?
Commvault is witnessing substantial traction across diverse verticals in India, partnering with key players spanning the Government and Public Sector, BFSI, Healthcare, IT/ITes, Manufacturing, Retail, and New Age technology sectors. With a global clientele exceeding 100,000 Commvault’s solutions are making a significant impact in India’s burgeoning digital ecosystem.
One of the most notable use cases in India is that of Persistent Systems, a leading global Digital Engineering and Enterprise Modernization firm. The company sought to bolster its cyber resilience capabilities to drive growth while safeguarding data. Facing scalability challenges with existing on-premises cybersecurity and data security platforms, Persistent turned to Commvault Cloud, powered by Metallic® AI.
Commvault Cloud enabled Persistent to rapidly scale operations securely, automating routine data protection tasks and creating immutable, air-gapped copies of core systems and data. As a result, Persistent achieved an impressive 8.2-hour Recovery Time Objective (RTO), surpassing their target by 66%, and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 22 minutes. This ensures swift recovery in the event of cyber incidents or system failures, minimizing data loss and preserving business continuity, thereby elevating their cyber resilience significantly. In addition to this, Commvault has collaborated with several other prominent entities in India, including Marcellus, IndiGrid, Indiassetz, and India Glycols, showcasing its broad impact across various industries.
What are the key pillars on which Commvault’s GTM strategy rests in India? What are some of the key initiatives under this strategy?
It is critical for Asian enterprises to adapt to a new reality where traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer sufficient. Commvault has recently made some significant strategic investments that are critical to meet market requirements and competitive pressures at the time. The company has made additional strategic platform investments to bring together data protection, security, intelligence, and recovery in one unified platform. With AI and ML-guided operations, we solve the most complex and error-prone tasks ensuring smooth data flows and security across increasingly complex infrastructures.
The recent acquisition of cloud resilience company Appranix stands as a testament to a shared, common vision: bolstering their cyber resilience amid a dynamic landscape by protecting data and recovering operations in the event of a cyberattack. Commvault’s partnership ecosystem is integral to the company’s market strategy. Commvault thrives on the collaborative synergy with channel partners, who play an instrumental role in our success. As we move forward, our partners serve as trusted advisors, advocating for Commvault solutions and extending our reach to new markets and customers.
What are going to be Commvault’s key focus areas in the next 12-18 months?
In the forthcoming 12-18 months, Commvault is poised to prioritize several key areas to enhance its market presence in India. Recognizing the growing demand for cloud-based solutions, Commvault is intensifying its focus on expanding SaaS offerings with its Commvault Cloud Cleanroom Recovery offering. We aim to make recovery and testing accessible to businesses of all sizes with affordable recovery options, eliminating the need for costly on-premises infrastructure. With democratized access, we will expand our presence in different verticals to deliver specialized solutions that address specific pain points of customers.
Through collaborative efforts and strategic alliances with our partner ecosystem, we aim to amplify our reach and enhance our capabilities, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
As AI evolves, how does it lead to more chances of vulnerabilities for enterprises, and how are Commvault solutions geared to mitigate some of these challenges?
As AI advances, it presents new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit enterprises. The evolving threat landscape demands innovative solutions to counter these risks effectively.
To combat risks, Commvault leverages AI with Commvault Cloud, thereby tackling AI-driven threats with AI itself. Commvault Cloud, powered by Metallic AI enables organizations to automate tasks and processes, enhancing efficiency and strengthening cybersecurity defenses.
Its proactive approach includes ThreatWise, our cyber deception service that layers defenses along the data path and shields it from AI-driven attacks by providing early warning signals, luring attackers away from critical assets, delaying attacks, and misleading the attackers.
Additionally, they recently announced that Clean Room Recovery service offers organizations a secure, ransomware-free environment in the cloud for swift restoration of business operations. By leveraging AI-driven insights to identify the last known clean data copy, it provides clarity and direction amidst chaos, enabling organizations to recover swiftly from cyberattacks.
How does Commvault leverage AI in enhancing the capability of enterprises to combat cybersecurity threats while conforming with all compliances in a highly regulated environment?
Navigating the complex cybersecurity landscape with confidence and resilience is what Commvault strives to practice. In the aftermath of a breach, swift recovery is pivotal, yet identifying untainted data copies presents a challenge.
Through innovative services like Clean Room Recovery, Commvault empowers organizations to identify the last known clean data copy, enabling rapid decision-making in crisis scenarios. This capability not only accelerates recovery efforts but also instills confidence among CIOs facing high-stakes situations. Commvault proactively identifies and segregates critical data, including intellectual property, aligning with stringent regulations like Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
Commvault went a step ahead leveraging AI to create our own AI assistant, Arlie, to make data management easier than ever for our customers. Arlie revolutionizes user interaction with technology by providing access to information and assistance using simple language. This, thereby, enhances efficiency and streamlines processes empowering customers in their businesses.
When it comes to cyber resiliency, our cloud-based solutions provide security similar to a bank locker, ensuring minimal risk of exposure during breaches. This emphasis on cyber resilience highlights Commvault’s commitment to safeguarding critical assets while minimizing disruption. Additionally, Commvault recognizes the dynamic nature of compliance requirements across industries. By establishing clear policies specific to regulatory frameworks, we ensure that enterprises remain compliant without compromising efficiency.
What are Commvault’s unique differentiators in the extremely competitive landscape?
In the constantly evolving cybersecurity landscape, Commvault distinguishes itself through several unique features to simplify modern challenges. Its single pane of glass view simplifies data management and backs up Microsoft 365 and Salesforce Cloud without using a third-party product. Another hallmark feature of Commvault is the Cleanroom Recovery service which ensures secure and rapid application recovery into an on-demand cleanroom environment, reducing the complexity and costs associated with managing cleanrooms on-premises.
Security is of utmost priority to us which is reflected in its layered approach to threat detection, actively monitoring live data for early threat warnings and facilitating quick response and mitigation. This proactive stance towards security provides confidence to our customers, knowing their data is safeguarded against evolving cyber threats.
In the dynamic business environment, flexibility is key and Commvault understands that. Features like global deduplication and dynamic provisioning not only reduce infrastructure costs but also simplify scalability, allowing businesses to adapt to changing demands with ease. Additionally, Commvault Cloud supports a wide range of data platforms, workloads, and cloud-native applications, offering consistent and integrated security for all data.
Discussion about this post