Over the last ten years, CIOs have been challenged with the responsibility of restructuring their company’s data and applications to align with the rapid evolution of technology, business operations, and customer requirements.
Hence, adopting data modernization techniques becomes crucial for enterprises, facilitating better decision-making through real-time data accessibility, rapid analysis, and identification of contemporary trends.
One prominent player that provides data modernization services from India is DataSwitch. The company offers tools and technologies that automate the process of moving data from on-premises systems to the cloud.
With its low-code approach, DataSwitch makes migrating, re-engineering, accessing, creating, testing, and publishing data easier, providing customers with agility and speed to deliver business outcomes.
While there are a few competitors, DataSwitch group’s CEO and chairman Sivakumar Agneeswaran believes that the solutions they offer are unparalleled, especially in process/workload migration to cloud. He emphasises that DataSwitch’s strength lies in the depth and breadth of technologies that are supported for automation.
Currently, most of the common legacy databases like Oracle, Greenplum, Netezza, Teradata, DB2 and SQL Server are supported. Also, the common legacy ETL tools like Informatica PowerCenter, DataStage, SSIS and Talend are supported. On the target side, most technologies on all three clouds, AWS, Microsoft and GCP are supported along with cloud-agnostic technologies like Matillion, Snaplogic, Databricks and Snowflake.
“We are a jack of all technologies in the data space and a master of automation,” Agneeswaran said, in a recent conversation with AIM. DataSwitch offers a no-code platform for application data transformation and modernization, with products like DS Migrate, DS Integrate, and DS Democratize.
In the field of data modernization and data engineering, DataSwitch has been recognized as a ‘Hot Vendor’ in their 2023 report by HFS Research as part of their OneEcosystemTM. With a steadfast focus on delivering enterprise-grade, no-code, self-serviceable solutions based on their product, DataSwitch has established itself as a transformative catalyst helping enterprises modernize their legacy data and process workloads.
<DataSwitch’s outcome-based, automation-driven, fail-fast approach to data modernization and data engineering makes it a compelling choice for any enterprise. Its no-code solution enables enterprises to re-engineer their platform creating agile, adaptable, and innovative data architecture that can keep up with the changing needs of a dynamic business.
– Kumar Nikhil Bhaskar, Senior Analyst, HFS Research>
Inception of DataSwitch
DataSwitch was founded in mid-2020 by Karthikeyan Viswanathan, currently serving as the chief executive officer and president of the company. Before starting the company, both Viswanathan and Agneeswaran worked at Cognizant. During their time there, both held different leadership positions in the Data & Analytics practice.
Viswanathan was responsible for handling data modernization at Cognizant, where he developed automation tools. “Karthik is a firebrand leader in the data space who has built automation in niche areas,” said Agneeswaran.
During the initial years following the company’s inception, Vishwanathan dedicated his efforts to building the product. By the time it was ready, they successfully secured two enterprise customers—an e-commerce giant in Japan and a leading stock exchange in Asia.
Agneeswaran joined the company in September 2022. “My intention, when I came in, was to start scaling the product for the market. We quickly built partnerships with global system integrators like TCS, Deloitte, PWC, Birlasoft, Virtusa, Hexaware, Ascendion and many others,” he said.
“Any company that has a lot of on-premises data ecosystems and is looking to migrate to the cloud is our primary target,” said Agneeswaran. DataSwitch hasn’t raised funds and is bootstrapped.
Customers and Partnerships
DataSwitch’s customer base is constantly increasing. The company mostly relies on its SI (System Integrators) partners to acquire customers. “We have completed over 50 implementations across the globe, with two-thirds involving Fortune 500 companies in various sectors such as retail, health sciences, BFSI, manufacturing, etc.,” said Agneeswaran.
Agneeswaran mentioned that DataSwitch acquires customers and partners in two ways. One is the direct acquisition of new customers and the other is by offering the products to SI partners, which adds the service component to the product across different verticals.
Further, the company plans to target the GCCs globally. “We are already working with a couple of GCCs in India. We will be doing more outreach and getting into more of them in the subsequent quarters. That will be a growth area for us,” he said.
“Our customer base extends from USA, APAC, Japan, Australia, and India to Europe, and the UK, spanning across continents,” he added.
Work Culture at DataSwitch
The company has a flexible work culture that allows its employees to work remotely. “We have about 80 employees, and we are completely remote. So, we don’t have an office,” said Agneeswaran.
“We have and want to maintain this remote culture because it enables people to be flexible with their timings,” he added. The company regularly organises internal training programs to keep employees updated with the technology changes.
“It’s a very open culture again. There is no hierarchy and the founders are easily accessible,” said Agneeswaran. He further added that the company does not mete out punitive measures for failures. “Unless you fail, you won’t be able to succeed,” he concluded.
