This Entrepreneur Is Helping SMBs Embrace Technology Bengaluru-based G7CR Technologies was founded by Dr. Christopher Richard and his firm is empowering SMBs to adopt the power of cloud, business process automation, machine learning and emerging technologies

Technological advancement has changed the trends of business. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud and quantum computing, among many others, have made businesses more efficient. Apart from this, technology and Internet boom has also caused a digital shift in consumer trends.

At a time when India is betting on its start-ups and small and medium businesses (SMBs) to attain the goal of becoming $5-trillion economy in the next five years, it is very important for the small-sized businesses to embrace technology. While speaking at Amazon Smbhav, experts said SMBs need to embrace technology and data including consumer reviews to grow their businesses. According to experts, the growth is limitless if one can have a strong digitized business because you are already a part of an ecosystem which is much more efficient.

However, experts also stated that while it might be difficult for small-sized companies to leverage technology, there are several large companies who are helping SMBs source technologies. One such company is Bengaluru-based G7 CR Technologies, who is empowering small- and medium-sized businesses to adopt the power of cloud, business process automation, machine learning and emerging technologies.

According to the company, it is aimed at helping its clients boost their revenue, reach and productivity.

Providing Cloud-based Solutions To Businesses

Speaking to Entrepreneur India, Dr. Christopher Richard, founder and managing director of G7CR Technologies, explained that G7CR Technologies is a cloud-focused company; our entire business is focused on the cloud and we are very strong in the SMB front.

"We are an expert Azure managed services partner, driving the cloud transformation for over 800+ businesses pan-India. G7CR provides cloud hosting services on Microsoft Azure, packaged with all the related support services for free. These services include managing cloud servers, monitoring cloud deployments, cloud architectural designs, cloud security services, governance services, 24x7 telephonic support and implementing advance technologies like power BI, analysis services, artificial intelligence, bots and machine learning," Richard said.

Founded in 2012, G7CR Technologies counts brands such as Alibaba.com, Amazon, Digicert, Microsoft and Softlayer as its global technology partners. The company began offering cloud computing services in 2016. Prior to that, it worked as an IT solution provider.

Nowadays businesses need to constantly innovate and adopt solutions to keep their edge and according to Richard, cloud computing is one such offering that allows businesses to go to market faster, zero down their capex cost on IT and plugin ready to use solutions. While these services are available in the market, founders find it difficult to choose the right platform and keeping abreast with technology.

"We (G7CR) create value, we manage these services for you, drive cloud adoption, recommend solutions that suit your business and technical needs and help in implementing them. One of the major differentiators is the technical value proposition that we provide because most of the partners in the cloud space have majorly been transactional where they might not have the technical expertise to assist the customers," Richard said.

Growth After Overcoming Difficult Times

Richard said he had lived a childhood filled with adversities after losing his father at an early age. Richard who had to work as a security guard while completing his class 12th, worked hard and then went on to become one of the leading IT consultants.

"In 2006, I went on to start my first venture and then grow it into a 1,000 people organization focusing on BPM and niche IT consulting services. Later, we launched the G7CR cloud division with Jesintha Louis and Sajid Faizan and was then joined by Deepak Singh. Together we created the success of the cloud division as you can see today," Richard said.

According to Richard, the cloud business records close to around $12 million business yearly. G7CR recently got recognized as the Microsoft Country Partner of the year 2019.

Some of its major clients are SBI Life, National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange along with Symphony Summit, Rail Yatri, Hiveloop Technology, Subex and HyperVerge Technologies.

"Our cloud division recently crossed INR 100 crore. We are growing month-on-month at the rate of 10-12 per cent which makes sure we grow at 100 per cent year-on-year and our bottomlines have been around 3-5 per cent. We believe this is a healthy bottomline for a company whose paid-up capital was just INR 2 crore and still remains at INR 2 crore till date," Richard claimed.

Plans For 2020

G7CR Technologies is mainly looking at expanding its geographical presence this year. The company is aiming to expand presence across India with primary focus on tier II and tier III cities. Apart from this, it is also planning for global expansion. "We are looking to open in 3-4 countries shortly like UAE. We are tying up with certain companies as subsidiaries in the Netherlands and North America," Richard said.

After having crossed INR 100 crore revenue, the company is also aiming to double the revenue in the next financial year.