The 5G revolution is enabling acceleration in digital transformation across India. Businesses with help of this next-gen technology can grow further and eliminate traditional business challenges. The adoption of 5G is expected to be ideal for revamping the business growth and leaving behind all the clutters.
Impact of 5G on Business Transformation
Commenting on the role of 5G in transforming Indian businesses, Ramanujam Komanduri, Country Manager, Pure Storage India said, “Beyond enabling high speed connectivity and transfer of massive volumes of data, 5G presents a real opportunity for businesses in India to embark on digital transformation at scale. Apart from spurring development in new software and hardware, 5G will unlock innovation in a host of use cases such as cutting-edge technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality). These technologies will have an end-to-end effect on multiple sectors - healthcare, agriculture, education, disaster management and others. The advanced abilities offered by 5G networks will also drive new business models. Beyond that, 5G services are also expected to play a major role in achieving the economic goal of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024-25.”
Opportunities for Technology Players
5G is revolutionizing existing business models by providing new avenues for innovation, productivity, connectivity and customer experience. Combined with other technologies such as the cloud, IoT and edge computing, 5G will change how business is done or even how entire industries operate – whether it’s finance, manufacturing, travel, retail or healthcare. Adding further on this, Ramanujam said, “The 5G network can help enterprises increase the volume of data they gather and the speed at which artificial intelligence technology can process it. Moreover, with these advanced technologies, tech companies can introduce personalization based on customer data profiles to improve customer experiences. 5G will also further transform the future of work and aid effective, real-time collaboration and communications, resulting in improved employee experience and productivity.”
He further said, “One of the biggest advantages for India, as a result of 5G would be the opportunity to build the country’s core IT capabilities, which will enable homegrown IT companies – both large-enterprises and startups future-proof their offerings. The introduction of 5G would also advance the "Made in India" and "Digital India" initiatives and provide India a distinct advantage over competitors across the world.”
Increased Data Consumption & Generation
While sharing his views on Data consumption, Ramanujam said, “Aggressive 5G deployments by service providers, coupled with growing affordability and availability of 5G smartphones, should see 5G subscriptions in the India region reach around 500 million in the next five years. The coming of 5G will only complement the already growing data usage among Indian consumers.”
“With the massive amount of data transfer that 5G networks will enable, organizations will have to deal with a tremendous influx of data sets. This will pave the way for new technologies to help businesses use data to uncover intelligence and improve customer service and business profitability. Additionally, the growth of 5G has tremendous implications for IT infrastructure and CIOs need to take a fresh look at their strategies. Keeping legacy silos of data that aren’t readily accessible is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. A modern data experience, whereby data is easily accessible, commutable and delivered where it is needed instantly, is not possible as long as technical silos exist between different environments,” he said further.
Challenges in Implementing 5G
5G implementation is not an easy feat to achieve. The large scale adoption of 5G technology will demand considerable changes in the infrastructure. Sharing his views about challenges in the adoption of 5G, Ramanujam Komanduri said, “Increased interconnectivity brought on by 5G networks furthers the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches for organizations and consumers alike. Digital transformation has expanded the cyber-attack surface. This problem requires organizations to prepare for the worst-case scenario and upskill their IT experts. Companies can prevent future attacks by identifying and running analysis on attacks that have already happened. Infrastructure expenses could also become a hindrance to widespread adoption of 5G in India. However, given the large-scale benefits that come with 5G integration, such massive investments can lead to massive gains.”
