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Spotlight
Protecting your network
A specialist in the network security space, Taarak India
provides a gamut of solutions for securing networks. By Neeraj Gandhi.
The Indian economy is experiencing rapid growth. As a result, business is also
on the rise. Consequently this increase in business has led to an astronomical
increase in the amount of information that is flowing from the enterprise to
the outside world and vice versa. In such a scenario, when the information exchange
has become inevitable, and keeping in mind that a large chunk of this information
is digital, securing the network and the path of information flow has assumed
cardinal importance for any enterprise.
As businesses place ever greater reliance on the Net and put their digital assets
online, they are exposed to significantly greater threats. Through a breach
of security, proprietary data can be stolen or changed, customer information
can be accessed, and business operations can be brought to a standstill. Security
breaches have the potential to cripple a company, and even have an impact on
its financial performance.
Taarak India Pvt. Ltd. has established itself as a niche player in the network
security market with a client base that covers most of the demographics of the
current market with specialization in some particular verticals. The word `Taarak’
has its roots in Sanskrit and if translated means protector, or one who protects.
“We are committed to providing our customer with solutions and support
in securing and maintaining a secure network environment,” said Jose Kurian,
COO, Taarak India Pvt. Ltd.
Laying the foundation
The company was established in the last quarter of 2001. At that time Taarak
was a team of professionals who had experience and the skill sets in the information
security domain. It was purely a reseller of security solutions with operations
in Delhi. In contrast, today it is a national distributor for various security
products that are sold through its branch offices located in Mumbai, Bangalore
and Delhi.
The rise in the adoption of IT for running business operations was one of the
principal reasons for Taarak’s entry into the area of network security.
“With the adoption of IT as a backbone for running businesses and their
processes, it was a natural assumption that the need for systems and securing
said systems and the data that resides on them would arise,” added Kurian.
This prudent decision launched Taarak as a provider of network security solutions.
Today the company has carved a niche for itself in this domain, and works with
the goal of providing services and creating products that not only work in a
stable manner, but also outperform and overachieve their basic specifications.
The company operates through two divisions—Distribution and Solutions.
Products distributed by the company include security solutions from Check Point,
Juniper, Cyberoam, RSA, Internet Security Systems, McAfee, Symantec and Trend
Micro among others.
The journey
The entry of any newcomer into the market is difficult and full of challenges
and Taarak’s journey was no different. As Kurian put it, “The journey
was both exciting and scary.” Initial hurdles like the establishment of
a brand identity, technology tie-ups, defining customers etc. were addressed
on a priority basis. Thereafter, as soon as the company diversified into a distribution
model, another set of challenges was tackled.
A vigilant attitude and careful decision-making made the
to-be bumpy ride an easy and comfortable one. Taarak embarked on its journey
as a typical reseller but quickly realized that there was more to be offered
and achieved. Accordingly the company began investing in technical expertise
and competence which allowed it to be different.
“We started penetrating the enterprise space and established positive relationships
with the principal vendors. As time went by, we decided to explore the distribution
arena and set up a distribution channel which consisted of all of our brethren
in the industry with whom we share the reseller environment,” said Kurian.
Today Taarak has 35 employees, all of whom are experts in the network security
domain.
Taarak India offers a suite of services to streamline
and enhance security operations. Through these services, the company aims
at maximizing visibility, efficiency and return on investment for existing
security infrastructure. The company’s service offerings include:
- Strategy services: To provide answers to the elusive
questions of how to improve security visibility, communication, and
incident response.
- Deployment services: To deliver fast, effective deployment
of security solutions in an organization’s network.
- Educational services: To offer hands-on, relevant learning
experiences of industry leading security solutions and best practices
for users and administrators. The company offers training in intrusion
analysis, incident handling, forensic analysis, wireless network security,
Check Point and ISS, understanding malicious threats and security awareness.
In addition the company also offers the following consultancy services:
- Enterprise Security Strategy: This service provides
answers to questions such as “How to secure the network and what
strategy should be adopted?”. To attain this objective Taarak India
certified consultants sit with the client organization’s IT and
management staff to understand business processes, organizational hierarchy
and IT infrastructure. After completely understanding the client’s
requirements, Taarak’s consultants prepare a security strategy
and plan for the organization.
- Enterprise Security Management: The company also provides
on-site 24x7 security management and monitoring services to prospective
clients.
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Future plans
The company is in the process of strengthening its service
division. It also intends to provide facility management services in the field
of information security in the near future. “We will be providing trained
manpower to manage the security infrastructure of organizations. The service
will also cover conducting security awareness training and implementation services,”
added Kurian. By year-end it will also add a couple of niche products to its
distribution business.
In addition, the company is also in talks with leading security vendors worldwide
to bring their products to India. It has plans to operate in this niche market
and offer a range of products that provide complete security to its customers.
neeraj.gandhi@expressindia.com
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