One of WorldHostingDays’ most exciting regional events, WHD.india 2017, in Mumbai, and we couldn’t be happier with how it went!
WHD India 2017
WHD India 2017 had something for anyone interested in the rapidly expanding cloud and internet market in India and beyond. It had a jam-packed schedule of keynote presentations and sessions with industry experts, plus plenty of opportunities to network and learn about the latest tech innovations from exhibitors.
It truly lived up to the hype.
An added feature was that WHD.india and NamesCon India were back-to-back for the first time this year! Between May 18 and 19, 2017, these complementary events brought together hundreds of people in cloud services, web hosting and domain industries. All the knowledge, connections and fun were in the same space.
Video Recap India
Here’s a small taste of WHD.india 2017 and the first NamesCon India:
Recap WHD.india
The day opened shortly after 10 a.m. with our Master of Ceremonies Abhishek Majithia warming up the crowd and opening remarks from WorldHostingDays and NamesCon President Soeren Von Varchmin.
Raghu Murthi
With the attendees now warmed up, we brought our first keynote speaker to the stage: Raghu Murthi, Senior Vice President of Hosting at GoDaddy. Raghu had some unique insights into the future of web hosting and technology – which he tailored to the audience by relating them to his favourite Bollywood films.
Manish Dalal
Next up, we had Manish Dalal (Vice President – Naming Services, Asia Pacific at Verisign) provide a useful overview of the domain name industry in India. Did you want to know how big the market is, how it’s divided by consumer segment, and what solutions are most popular?Manish answered all these questions and provided some insights on what online solutions are being used by small and medium businesses in India – as well as micro businesses, which make up a huge proprotion of companies.
Meera Singh
After a coffee break, we were back for more sessions just past noon. The afternoon sessions started off with Meera Singh (Director of Research Operations at 451 Research) who discussed why and how online service providers should expand their portfolio of services.
Alberto Pittoni
Alberto Pittoni, Sales Director at Zextras, took to the stage to explain how your Zimbra-based Software-as-a-Service business can meet new customer demands.
Daniel Viney
After a delicious lunch and great conversation, we heard from Daniel Viney (Director, Product at atmail) on how email is a key selling point for online service providers. Email isn’t going anywhere – and new technology makes it possible and economically viable to provide enhanced email capabilities like real-time synchronization, and guarantee data sovereignty and a high-level of security.
Ivan Mudryy
It was now time for Ivan Mudryy (Business Development Manager at SpamExperts) to deliver his fascinating presentation on how SMB’s behave when it comes to choosing webhosts and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) – and what they can do to remain relevant to customers.
Anand Vora
Up next, Anand Vora (Director of Business Developmen at Donuts) and Sanjeev Sharma (Head of South Asia at OpenSRS) explained how new TLDs (and domains in general) can be a web host’s secret weapon for getting new customers on board.
Vishesh Gupta
Vishesh Gupta, Head Asia Pacific at Resello, outlined the potential that small, medium, and micro businesses in India hold for cloud and hosting customers. India is quickly embracing new technology, and with fewer than 5 per cent of businesses having a web presence there will be big gains as the remaining 95 per cent come online. Get ready – this could be huge!
Jasminder Singh Gulati
Jasminder Singh Gulati (Co-founder and CEO at NowFloats) shared his insights into how people in India use the internet and how a basic smartphone can drastically increase a family’s income and quality of life. With many great examples to illustrate this, Jasminder makes a powerful case for bringing all of India online.
Navaneeth Suresh K
Navaneeth Suresh K (Product Marketing Manager at Zoho Corporation) talked about the collaboration tools used by effective teams. These new tools, Navaneeth said, can improve workflow and help people work together in ways email never could.
Hiren Shah
QualiSpace CEO Hiren Shah explained how the radical idea of offering free hosting to start-ups and SMEs for a year helps them prove their value to the world. Hiren reckons that if you give them server space, scripts and support, they’ll be bound to grow.
Joel Rasquinha
The new domain extensions have only been around for a few years, but there’s already a lot of misinformation circulating. In his WHD.india presentation, Joel Rasquinha (Strategic Partner Manager at Radix) busted six common myths about new TLDs ranging from SEO to renewal rates.
Amit Kamal
Amit Kamal (Head of Sales at Openprovider) explained how competition is forcing down the price domain registrars can charge to near-zero margins. Amit elaborated on what this means for the industry and what new business models will emerge.
Diarmuid Daltun
Diarmuid Daltun (CSO / VP WW Sales at Plesk) shared some of the most revealing hosting industry insights – backed up by real numbers. These important figures reveal the path to growth in the cloud and hosting business – what changes to embrace and which to avoid in a time of consolidation and uncertainty.
This fantastic day devoted to cloud services and internet infrastructure ended with the amazing ConneXion Party in the evening featuring a live band and a DJ playing some favourite Bollywood hits. The dancing and conversation lasted well into the night.
Want to know what happened the following day? It was also pretty amazing!
