In technology there is no question of being small or big. Think about how Michael Dell thought he could beat a giant like IBM. What matters is to build a robust product with intelligent selling strategy, with the right price in the right time for the right audience one can deliver. This is the message, Bangalore headquartered router company, BA systems is conveying loud and clear. “In the networking space, Ciscos or Junipers of the world may be pioneers. But there is always a better way to do a thing. And we have done that,” says proud PJ Singh, Founder and CEO, BA systems.

Veterans in the networking technology Singh and Krishnan Sunderam, Founder and VP Technology, had a strong reason to feel happy when they sensed the opportunity to sell router products, if they build it better than the incumbents had, in emerging markets like India. They found that in market for routers in India has been growing at 15-18 percent compared to the growth of about 5 percent in developed countries. In fact, this was the economics behind company’s decision to build products for India. They also knew the ‘sensitivity’ of these markets, where it’s not just human tendency, perhaps the business propensity also, to go for some thing that is better and cheaper, if offered.

However, it was not a starry road ahead for this duo to effortlessly chase their dreams. Networking stalwarts like Cisco, Juniper, Nortel were already highly belligerent in snapping up most of the market share in India. Yet, the duo founded BA Systems in February 2005 to bet on their proficiently crafted “the best for less” strategy to sell their unique router products, they built exclusively for emerging market, which then went on to become the first Indian Enterprise Core and Edge managed router manufacturer for enterprises within four years of its inception.

Also, over the years the role of networks has evolved from basic connectivity among users to access applications that support business processes using the bandwidth that existed outside the network. “With organizations in emerging markets facing the demand for increasing scalability of infrastructure, integration of complex technologies, security threats from hackers and viruses, and escalating costs of systems integration, networks are bound to offer increased and diverse functionality,” opines Singh. Actually, this fact also led the BA team to build innovative router products.

Taking on the Incumbents