Aurora Maps Out Two Years Success Graph in India
India, an open market, has been accepting to AV brands that offer right technology at the right price. The message that new is better, sharper and has more to offer, is loud and clear and that's what Aurora Multimedia brings to the table. On the occasion of Aurora Multimedia celebrating its second year of growth and achievement in the Indian territory, the company organized an “Aurora Supercharged Nite” for its vendor partners and clients. On the sidelines of this event, Anil Chopra - Director of AV Integrated Systems Expo, got into a conversation with Paul Harris - CEO and CTO at Aurora Multimedia Corp. and Nataraju Upputuri, Director, Aurora Multimedia India to discuss Aurora’s penetration, growth and success in the Indian AV Market.
AC: How Excited are you about India as an AV Market?
PH: We are very excited! The market has emerged in the previous years but it’s the team that has made it what it is right now. It takes a lot for people to make and build relationships and my team here, especially Nataraju really embodies that. From all my territories in the world he has proven beyond doubt that he has what it takes to build the territory and for India, he has done it really well. I have to give the credit for the growth to the team working in Aurora.
AC: I do agree with you. Nataraju has been very stable and sure about his decisions as to how he wants to promote Aurora in India there is no doubt it. He was very quick and fast to respond to the new platform we have created and that shows the proactiveness and the need to explore and that is highly appreciable. With regards to India as an AV industry market, do you feel it is at the cutting edge and is adopting the latest technologies and techniques?
PH:Oh Absolutely! the numbers prove them more than anything. If you look at what Aurora has done, they have over 350 set conversions in less than two years. That's an amazing number and an amazing accomplishment. That does not just happen because of the product. It also happens because of the people, the companies involved and where this country is actually going. There is so much more coming that it is just going to continue escalating. I believe that the number has grown almost 250% from the growth that we had and that's an amazing growth rate. This is not even the growth rate for the world that I am talking about, it is the growth rate for India solely. We are a new company coming into India and the territory has embraced our technology so quickly. A growth of more than 250% is not just our growth but it is India growing with us. People shouldn’t underestimate India, if the company is making good products there is no reason why they can't connect to the market directly and do awfully well. We needed to bring in this very heavy technological product and we brought it into India with a team from India itself and they have proved themselves more than efficient. You can't magically just bring the technology. For that you have to understand the technology, you have to understand the installation and you have to get the people you want. You can't just magically buy a box and get it done. It took a team of people who understood it and that's why I love this team. They don't need a lot of technical support from their corporate office. They understand the product and they know to support it locally by themselves. They are an entity on their own. That integrators have successfully deployed our technology and working 24 x 7 on it says a lot. There is an equal system in place where the manufacturer, integrator and the client all are working together successfully. Many a times, you take a technology into a country, and it just sits there because neither do they understand the technology, nor do they have local people who can educate everybody else on the technology. I could try to sell all I want, but without the relationships, without the technical knowledge and the understanding, it is never going to happen.
AC: Do you have an India R&D setup to do some development work for Aurora because Texas Instruments, IBM, NASA, and you know the whole world has their own R&D set up over here in Bangalore.
PH: We actually have some of our programmers based out from here in India. We have our resources all over the world but some of our prominent programming resources are based right here in India and they do a fantastic job of the products that are being used in the Middle East. The products are due to joint efforts. India has a crucial role in our AV over IP products as well, and even our new generation of ReAX Control Engine. So, India is playing an important role in a lot of different ways, not just from buying the product and installing it but also helping us develop the product. There is a lot of talent here and that's why I am here.
AC: How does it feel celebrating Aurora Multimedia India’s two years of growth and achievement?
NU: We started the journey two years ago. It’s been a sort of roller coaster ride initially but we soon started sailing smoothly; we stood by our hard work, dedication and commitment throughout. As we complete two years of growth and achievement, we wanted to thank all those who trusted and supported us. The programme is all about the breakthroughs we achieved and how supercharged we are for the future.
AC: What is your vision for taking Aurora to the next level?
NU: India's AV market is the fastest growing in the Asia Pacific – having grown 26 per cent annually from 2009 to 2012, with sales turnover reaching US$2.7 billion. The market in India is expected to continue growing at a rate of 25 per cent annually to 2015.
Today’s intelligent enterprise focus on increasing productivity and streamlining operations for the sake of higher efficiency. We have noticed that the way traditional work areas are a concept of yesterday & lots of new conceptual ideas being implemented towards engagement of staffs by recreating work spaces with more intuitive amenities.
As a result, Many Enterprises are working towards newer ways of collaborating & communicating with employees and their clients, where merging of AV with IT Playing a critical role. So, they are looking at newer ideas of transportation of Audio Video across floors, buildings & campuses with a very low latency which traditional methods cannot achieve and even cost of ownership is high. But thanks to newer AV over IP concepts introduced by Pioneers like Aurora Multimedia which made it possible at affordable costs. Not only they prefer premium brand but also look that cost effectiveness. India being a very tech savvy country, we have a strong culture of pursuing engineering and technology and people are accepting the fact that AV over IP is the future. From the client side, most local and global companies have been demanding AV over IP solutions.
Here, Aurora is playing a significant role as Aurora develops cutting-edge products for markets looking for the most bang-for-the-buck, and their offerings are both competitive and innovative. And we will continue to do the same.