EXCLUSIVE: Cloud Now in Adoption Phase by Enterprises, says Suresh Sambandam, OrangeScape Founder

Speaks to YourStory after OrangeScape was named Technology Partner by Google

In a significant development, Google announced technology and service partners as part of its Cloud Technology Partner Program this week in its efforts to help enterprises move to Cloud. OrangeScape, Chennai-based PaaS company that is already leveraging Google App Engine to deliver its workflow solutions to enterprise customers, was named one of the technology partners and is the only Indian company to have got into the Google Cloud league. The enterprise Cloud adoption is seeing traction in North America and Europe, according to Suresh Sambandam, Founder of OrangeScape. In his first interview to YourStory after Google named OrangeScape its technology partner, Suresh feels that in 3 to 5 years, Cloud will hold centre stage in enterprise technology solutions. He also speaks on benefits enterprises get on moving from Lotus applications to OrangeScape platform, as the case study quoted in the Google blog that announced the partnership. Enterprises can realize 50% cost savings on migration, says Suresh.You are now one of the few Google Technology partners in their Cloud Platform Partner Program. What does it mean to OrangeScape?

This is a great win for OrangeScape, especially the fact that OrangeScape being the first partner for Google App Engine. We bet on Google App Engine right from day one when Google App Engine was opened for beta in 2008 and that has paid off well.

The Google blog lists one instance of Cloud migration from Lotus Notes to OrangeScape platform. Can you give us an indication of activity in this area and how many companies are have migrated to Cloud thanks to OrangeScape’s platform?

We are seeing a large number of Lotus Notes customers are choosing cloud based email solution as “email platform” is such a commodity that it doesn’t make sense of CIOs to manage it within their portfolio spending precious executive energy. Analysts have predicted that 1800+ mid to large enterprises will move out of Lotus in the next few years. Google Apps takes care of Email, Collaboration, Docs and Sites. OrangeScape compliments Google Apps for moving business applications and workflows to Google Cloud. We use our Visual PaaS for sophisticated/complex apps and workflows and recommend KiSSFLOW for simple to medium complex workflows.

Can you give us the cost savings on this type of migration for the enterprise?

Large corporates have few thousand apps and workflows in Lotus Notes. Migrating these many apps runs into few millions of dollars of professional services and software costs. OrangeScape has a 4-pronged approach to bring down is multi-million dollar effort by at least 50%. The 4-pronged approach is a combination of

• leveraging our Visual PaaS’s RAD capability that reduces development effort by 3-5 times and
• combining it with a Lotus Convertor tools we have developed for automated conversion, plus
• engaging our consulting team that has a unique “factory model migration” methodology and finally,
• providing migration services through our partners in onsite/offshore model to further reduce costs.

Enterprises are hesitantly moving to Cloud. Enterprises are willingly moving to Cloud. Which one is true?

Enterprises are piloting cloud in a big way across North America and Europe. Cloud is surely into adoption phase now. I believe that in 3-5 years anything that is not in cloud will be called as “legacy system”.

What are the benefits of migration from Lotus Apps and Workflows to OrangeScape platform for the enterprise apart from cost savings?

OrangeScape’s “Lotus Migration Solution” not only saves cost of their entire App / workflow migration project to the tune of 50%, in the process enterprises get an industry grade, platform of the future (Application PaaS) for building sophisticated enterprise apps that are vendor & customer facing! It’s like a double benefit for CIOs achieved in half the cost of alternate solutions.

--Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, chief evangelist