Page 5 - DATA BREACH EDITION - SNS INDIA

When SNS India commenced its journey, most “Best Partner of India” award from top security
people were not aware of data security. Many vendors across the globe.
laughed at their idea of focusing only on data One of their biggest achievements has been that
security. But today, data security, which has now they never defaulted on their employees &

evolved into cyber security, is discussed distributors in all these years and have never
e v e r y w h e r e , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e c o m p a n y sought the support of any Venture Capitalist either.
boardrooms.
In a chat with Digitaltech Media, N.K Mehta outlines
Since its inception, SNS has expanded from a head how his company SNS is known for its unparalleled
office in Chennai to 10 other branch locations. The commitments in the industry and why maintaining

company has grown from just one client to 1500+ financial discipline has been one of his biggest
customers today. They have also won many lessons during these 22 years.
awards & accolades, including the -

Read the edited excerpts below.

You recently completed 22 years in the industry. Making our team believe in our commitment to
What or Who do you think has been the biggest creating a future was also a significant challenge.But
contributor to your success? those who believed in us are some of the big shots in
Our first customer is the biggest contributor to our the security domain today. They are either at top
success, undoubtedly. When we received our first spots in leading MNCs or are holding top positions in
order, we lacked local market experience. If they had SNS itself.
asked for three years of audited balance sheets, Apart from this, finance management at the time of
customer references, etc., we wouldn't have reached executing large orders was also a huge challenge.
where we have today. But by then, we knew that we There was very little room to expand on our own. We
were entering a niche field and had put up a good would have grown multi-fold if we had received the
team too. But the first order opened many doors for kind of credit banks and distributors are extending to
us, and today we are happy to have 1500+ customers. new entrants today.

How has the cybersecurity market transformed
Of course, the team who believed in us while we were
over the years? How do you plan to scale your
new and stayed with us during our initial struggles
cybersecurity business/focus in the days to come?
deserves equal credit. Our decision to focus only on
data protection & cyber security 22 years back was We owe it to our founders who had this vision to set up

also a major differentiating factor. a Cybersecurity focused System Integration
business. When we started in 2000, desktop anti-virus
What were some of the roadblocks that you
was the only security, which we never wanted to do
encountered on the path to success?
anyway. We were focused on perimeter security, and
As mentioned earlier, people laughed at us when we
there weren't any Security OEMs present in the
wanted to focus only on Data & Network Security.
country around that time.
Besides, it was difficult to convince the customers,
Today, the cybersecurity industry has transformed
and banks weren't willing to fund us either.
itself into a multi-trillion-dollar business. Overall,
Additionally, distributors refused to extend credit lines
Global TAM for Security is huge and encouraging.
since we were new in the market. Besides, there was
With such a TAM, you don't need to do anything
no VC money available during that period.
dramatic. Just remain focused and build skills while
the market takes you to newer heights.

March 2023