Kailasanathan founded Microsense in 1995 along with Rajiv Talwar after spending 26 years in various management positions. He was a senior manager at ETTCC dealing with imports and exports of professional electronic components and systems. Today, as a co-founder and CEO, Kailasanathan is responsible for the development and deployment of numerous nation-wide connectivity solutions. Kailasanathan is a B Tech from IIT Madras and has an MBA from IIM Calcutta. In a tete-a-tete with DQCI he discusses the company’s plans.

What are the various business activities that Microsense is involved in?  

Microsense provides corporate solutions in the field of WAN and this has been our main focus area for the past 13 years. We have expertise and experience in WAN and Internet related technologies and have implemented systems for several large private and public corporates, educational and R&D institutions. We are committed to enhancing corporate productivity by continuously offering state-of-the art solutions to help them grow as their needs grow.

The WAN marketplace, catalyzed by the Internet is poised for tremendous growth. It is our objective to be at the forefront of related technologies. Providing first rate products and services for reliable long-term solutions for our clients is our top priority. Microsense will constantly endeavor to reach higher levels of technical and operating efficiencies, thus improving our responsiveness to client's needs and our quality of services.

Who are your alliance partners?

We have alliances with several industry majors like Microsoft and Cisco, as well as other important networking players in the world.

We also have a long-standing association with VSNL, right from the time Internet was launched in India.

What business model do you follow for Microsense?  

We have six offices in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Calcutta and we have a three-pronged business model namely corporate and end-user segment, ISP segment and the systems integrator segment.

We work very closely with systems integrators and over a period of time, are planning to introduce a two-layered architecture.

What plans do you have for your channel partners in the current fiscal?  

Our existing channel partners are being kept updated with our products and solutions constantly. As a part of our marketing plans we are planning to introduce an end-user campaign which will educate them about our products and services and create a pull factor. This in turn will help our channel partners to get repeat orders, which will mean healthy sales margins.

What are the different products and services that Microsense offers?  

Microsense delivers high-quality products matched with first-rate support. We are focussed on the Internet, offering a comprehensive range of premium Internet related products and services like Internet connections through dial-up, ISDN, leased lines and VSAT connectivity.

We have been in the datacom business for over a decade and support a range of world class modems. We have an installed base of over 40,000 modems. We also offer powerful remote access servers with up to 60 analog/ISDN callers with multiple WAN ports with NMS options.

We provide solutions that are affordable, flexible and go beyond basic connectivity. Whether it is internetworking between LANs within an office or at different locations, we provide all the components for networked routers, Internet and Intranet access. We offer a range of excellent yet cost effective routers for leased line, ISDN and VSAT networking.

Is it not true that Microsense is also into distribution?  

Yes, Microsense is also an authorized country distributor for Wingate proxy servers. This enables users to use one Internet account and a modem amongst several users and get charged for a single account. This proxy server comes with features such as an in-built firewall, audit and authenticate user access etc. Wingate is the winner of numerous prestigious awards.

We are also a distributor of Watch Guard -- a firewall product -- which is targeted at the SME and corporate segments.

We are also business partners of Sitara Networks, who have quality and service box for positive communications.

We have another division that targets the corporates and the end user segment, where we do more turnkey jobs. But ultimately, our main focus is service and not supplying boxes.

Are you planning to roll out any new products?  

We have already launched a number of new products in the recent past and will continue to do so. We have a tie-up with Patton Electronics and have recently launched their entire series of Patton base-band modems and interface converters. We have also introduced optical networking products and we are looking forward to launch a lot more products focused on optical networking and wireless technology.

The networking business today is seeing the entrance of many new players. How do you view this phenomenon? Do you think that this has narrowed the market share of the existing players in this business?

There is a misconception that LAN players will eat into the WAN space if they venture into this segment. This is not true. In fact this will only increase the market size on the whole. Solution providers are now entering the WAN space. This will certainly give rise to competition and only the channels with value-added services would survive in this business.

We also observe that companies who were into WAN business are still doing the same, but they have scaled up their products in terms of technology. Some of the networking products have metamorphosed whereas modem, which was initially considered to be a basic tool for data communication and systems integration solutions, has today become a commodity.

What are your short and long term plans?  

Our short-term plan is to have a fast growth in terms of turnover. But in the long run we would like to become a major player in the provision of networking solutions. It is our aim to become one of the top ten companies in India.

Sunila Paul in Chennai