Interview

We will continue to add value

Cisco will continue to add value and innovate on solutions for their pharma clients asserts Anil Bhasin, Vice President, Enterprise, Cisco, India and SAARC while talking to Nandini Patwardhan on the Indian pharma industry and Cisco's presence

What is your take on the pharma industry and problems faced by companies therein?

A CII study states that Indian pharma industry is growing at the rate of 8-9 per cent per year. The same study has pegged Indian pharma at around $48 billion by the end of the year 2007. This growth has led the industry to explore newer avenues of drug development, thus, promising higher capital investment in the pharma industry in the near future. Also, many MNCs have penetrated into the country with an aim to market drugs and conduct clinical trails. Thus, Indian pharma research, manufacturing, and outsourcing have received an impetus, creating an image of a land of opportunities in pharma.

As India gears up to be a pharma hub of the world, pharma companies here are increasingly waking up to the benefits of IP communication to increase their operational efficiency and do away with some specific problems that plague the pharma industry. These problems are:

• The 'silo effect' in large pharma companies that prevent clinicians from sharing pertinent data,
• A lack of standardized data definitions, necessitating duplicate testing and trials,
• Weak process and systems integration that slows time to market.

What is on Cisco's agenda for the Indian pharma industry?

Cisco plans to tap this growing industry with specific product offerings. Cisco's communication platforms help pharma companies overcome these obstacles by developing a fully electronic clinical development system through internet based initiatives. Cisco's Unified Communication solutions based on Intelligent Information Networks enable pharma companies to bring innovation into business processes such as R&D productivity, increasing sales, multi-channel marketing and, billing and purchasing and reducing operating costs across the organization.

Generally, pharma has always been low on the priority list for any company offering networking solutions. What might the reasons be?

There was a laggard start in adoption of IT in the pharma sector in India. However as competition and new opportunities have intensified, industry leaders foresee Indian pharma companies poised to take advantage of IT.

Another major driver in the Indian pharma Industry is globalisation. On one hand, the global players are setting up their facilities in India to cater to the demand in India and APAC (Asia Pacific) and on the other, Indian companies are supplying drugs to global giants or entering into different international markets. This means that an Indian pharma companies have to compete with a global brand, quality standards, processes, etc. In such a scenario, it is not only imperative for Indian pharma companies to e-enable all manufacturing processes but also optimize business processes to improve productivity. Having realised so, Indian companies are investing in Internet-based applications that can increase the effectiveness of their clinical trials and R&D. Going forward, IT is going to play a role of a key enabler.

Do you think that only the MNCs and large sized pharma companies are savvy about the need for networking and IT solutions?

While MNCs and large pharma companies rely on technology to improve efficiency and ensure future profitability, smaller firms rely on IT as a matter of survival, ie to stay competitive. We at Cisco Systems understand these differentiated needs of the industry and address it with specific end-to-end networking solutions.

What are the networking and communication needs of Indian pharma companies? How does Cisco stand to cater to them?

International trends predict that internal and external communication in pharma companies will change immensely, as companies continue to focus on this area to improve delivery capabilities and overcome the so called 'silos' effect. For instance, different components of the industry have to be connected to one another seamlessly. Cisco's Unified Communication Solution proves helpful resulting in significant cost savings and enhanced productivity. Cisco's range of product offerings like Cisco Content Networking Solution, VPN & Security, IP Contact centres, etc.

Ultimately, Indian's growth as a global leader hinges on its ability to overcome challenges and given the present scenario, integrating and facilitating cost-effective communication is a major challenge.

Therefore, pharma companies look for a solution that can offer a dynamic line of communication between the global markets and its manufacturing and research centres in India.

How do you go about working with pharma companies?

Our entire business is through our channel partners; hence partners are of paramount importance. Cisco helps partners upgrade their skills and train them to graduate to advance & emerging technology platforms. Cisco handholds channel partners to put up joint business plans and work with them to understand their area of focus and create new business platforms

Drawing on a unique combination of industry experience, business acumen, and technical knowledge, Cisco's Internet Business Service Group (IBSG) consultants work as trusted advisers to many of the leading pharma organizations and then recommend appropriate solutions to cater to their business needs. As the market continues to realize the importance of the quality of the network and its impact on profit, cash flow and productivity, Cisco Services are positioned to help customers accelerate business returns, while ensuring customer satisfaction.

How has Cisco's implementations helped pharma companies? Can you name the companies and the benefits that they have reaped?

Indian pharma companies will be forced to imbibe communication trends as they expand their presence globally. Cisco offers a suite of products for the communication needs of the pharma sector that enables global pharma companies keep employees, partners, suppliers and customers well-trained and informed in a high impact, cost efficient manner, no matter where they are located. Large companies in the pharma sector in India understand the benefits and the RoI that IT solutions can bring to them. For instance, out of the top players, Apollo, Wockhardt, Vimta Labs, Dr Reddy's, Ranbaxy, Matrix, Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma, Apotex India and Astra Zeneca are some of the pharma companies that have already deployed Cisco's networking solutions to equip themselves with competitive advantage.

One of Cisco's recent fruitful deployments has been at the Vimta Labs. Vimta wanted to implement a networking solution that would improve employee collaboration, reduce communication cost, allows users to access centralized information, enable compliance with the end customers' legal guidelines and above all provide all of this on a secure platform. Cisco along with its partner IBM, deployed solutions that enabled Vimta's new facility to have enhanced connectivity, information sharing and convergence of communication. With improved networking at its new facility, Vimta is already on its way to achieving its business goal set out for 2010.

What are your future plans for this industry?

As this industry gets competitive in the years to come, it is our endeavour to continue to innovate on solutions for the pharma industry. We will continue to add value to our customers business, with world class networking technology and value-added consultancy to help them achieve their business goals.

nandini.p@expressindia.com