The Jakarta Globe, Aditya Wikrama
There’s more to infrastructure than just roads and airports, with emerging economies investing huge sums to modernize their information technology backbones to connect their citizens and spur growth.
As a sign of the global economy’s high-tech turn, Silicon Valley networking giant Cisco was elevated to the marquee Dow Jones Industrial Average in June, helping fill the void as General Motors and Citibank fell by the wayside as the auto and finance sectors struggled.
Last month, the Jakarta Globe spoke with IT veteran Sanjay Rohatgi, Cisco’s Indonesian country manager who has previously worked for British Telecom, Telstra and Nortel.
Over the course of the interview, Sanjay explained the importance of upgrading Indonesia’s Internet infrastructure.
What opportunities do you see in the Indonesian market?
I’m bullish on Indonesia. Globally, the economy is slow right now, but there are a lot more opportunities here. Cisco has just launched Cisco 3.0, which strives to realize a connected society in every country we operate in. In Indonesia, broadband and mobile Internet remain patchy, so upgrading the infrastructure is critical. Internet traffic continues to grow at an overwhelming pace due to the expanded use of interactive media and the explosion of video content across multiple devices.
Can you pinpoint the biggest problems facing your industry in Indonesia?
In providing Internet access, there’s the last-mile problem [the distance from wireless Internet towers to customers] and the solution is metro Ethernet or WiMax. I believe the [Indonesian] government really wants to raise broadband penetration. The perennial traffic jams in Jakarta are actually a boon for telecommunication companies. We have started offering new capabilities for mobile communication to improve productivity by using our virtualization solutions.
How do you feel about the competition you’re facing?
Competition is a good opportunity to get smarter. In our case, we remain apart from our competitors because they’re still focusing on routers, while we’re really moving beyond that, as we’re now pushing virtualization. I think video conferencing through virtual private networks will change the way we live, the way we learn and the way we work.
What is the pace of growth in global Internet traffic?
The latest Cisco Visual Networking Index report forecast that global Internet traffic will increase fivefold by 2013. By 2013, annual global IP traffic will reach two-thirds of a zettabyte [a trillion gigabytes].
How is Cisco capitalizing on this surge in Internet traffic?
In terms of business transformation, our enterprise group is working with large corporations in the financial, oil and gas sectors, while we are also working with governments on the health care and educational sectors. We also help SMEs leverage their capabilities further and enable them to grow faster.
Can you describe the leadership potential of young Indonesians?
I’m quite excited about Indonesia as a young country. It has politically and technologically savvy young people coming up, so I see a lot of promise in this country’s young leaders.
How is Cisco coping with the acquisition of new companies?
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive in Cisco, and we always incubate [acquired firms] internally. It’s always exciting being at Cisco, as we’ll always lead the pack.
What was your first position in IT and what did you learn there?
My first real work was with British Telecom’s high-speed optical research and development group. I learned that you had to respect diversity, team values and cultures. If you are focused on what you want to achieve, you’ll always be a team player.
Is there any piece of technology that you just can’t do without?
I can’t do without my personal digital assistant and my smartphone. I can’t do without them, but I can do without my lap top.
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