Conversation with NTT DATA — Joint GTM Program
We are on a streak! We continue to deliver on the promise of bringing GTM focused community on a common platform so that we Learn, Network, and Grow fast — with a lightning speed.
In past, we have interviewed the founders of successful companies — Altizon and DeepTek. We have also interviewed corporates such as Intuit.
Corporates are a great channel for customer access. With time they have built relationships and credibility with their customers. If you are selling to enterprises, working with corporates helps you discover your potential customer fast but also reduces the sales cycles to convert a prospect to a customer. Corporates also see good value as they are able to identify adjacent products that they can take to their customers and delight them.
NTT DATA is one such organization that is working structurally with the global startup ecosystem to identify potential technology partners. In fact, NTT DATA has been working closely with TiE Pune to identify such companies in India and Singapore, and last year the company selected 38 companies to meet introduced by TiE.
NTT DATA is a leading IT services provider and global innovation partner headquartered in Tokyo, with business operations in over 50 countries. NTT DATA’s emphasis is on long-term commitment, combining global reach with local intimacy to provide premier professional services varying from consulting and systems development to outsourcing.
Thanks to Kazuya Murata from NTT DATA, to support our community and share about themselves, about their startup initiatives, and how startups can engage with them through this interview.
Enjoy reading!
1. To set up the context for our readers tell us a little bit about NTT DATA as an organization, its products, services, and scale of global operations?
Kazuya Murata: NTT DATA is an IT service provider and global innovation partner headquartered in Tokyo, with business operations in over 50 countries. FY2019 net sales were approx. US$ 20 billion. When we say “IT service”, we provide System Integration, Consulting, Managed Service, Packaged Solution, Platform Service, Professional Service, etc.
2. Could you talk about the customers you work with — Geography, sectors, size?
Kazuya Murata: We have a variety of customers — financial and banking, public sector, telecom, manufacturing, automotive, utilities, healthcare, retail, and so on. Customer industry portfolio is different depending on countries.
3. How big is your India operations and activities that you are involved in India?
Kazuya Murata: We have more than 23,000 professionals in India and the importance of India has been increasing for our businesses. Recently we have launched the Global Delivery Center in India in order to increase our capability to provide the best services to NTT DATA’s customers worldwide. Finding a good partner for the center is one of the objectives of meeting Indian startups
4. Could you talk in detail about your engagement with startups? Since when you are working with startups and how many startups have you engaged with so far?
Kazuya Murata: Firstly I would like to talk focusing on the Technology and Innovation General Headquarters (hereafter, “TIG”) in NTT DATA which I am working at, as it’s difficult to cover the entire history of startup collaboration in NTT DATA worldwide. TIG is an organization in NTT DATA whose mission is to support innovation and digitalization of NTT DATA’s business divisions by providing the best of technologies. TIG actively started a collaboration with Indian startups about three years ago (we have an older history in Japan, though). Since then we have made two investments followed by starting a partnership with TiE Pune in 2019 to accelerate engagement with Indian startups. Currently, we are meeting more or less 100 startups per year (including companies sourced from not only India).
5. Are their specific type of startups you work with geography, stage/size, sector, etc. ?
Kazuya Murata: In principle, there is no limitation for the location/country of startups. In reality, TIG has priorities: Japan, APAC (including India), Europe, and the US where we have significant local operations. Sometimes the location doesn’t really matter for a tech company, but in many cases, proximity is important in our business. TIG’s focus is explained as two parts:1) IT infra / deep tech e.g. Cloud infrastructure, IT Operations and Automation, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Agile/DevOps that support various business divisions and their projects. In many cases, these techs are industry agnostic. 2) Advanced AI with a focus on NLP and computer vision. Needless to say, tech focus details will be changing aligning with our business situation and the tech trend in the world.
6. What benefits do startups get by engaging with you? Do you also invest in such startups?
Kazuya Murata: The primary objective for us is to have business partners/business collaboration in order to complement our capability and accelerate innovation. We hope the engagement is also beneficial for startups in terms of market reach (our existing customers), joint development of products (we have best practices to make products applicable for large enterprise e.g. robustness, security, maintenance aspect), branding, and trust (if startups think so), and so on. Simultaneously we will actively consider investment if it’s beneficial for both parties.
7. If it’s okay to share, could you talk 1–2 startups that you have engaged in the past and how it was a mutually beneficial engagement for both you and the startup?
Kazuya Murata: TIG invested in two companies. 1) DeepTek (medical imaging AI) — has been contributing to NTT DATA expanding AI healthcare service since the investment. Recently we together have started applying their solution to Covid-19 diagnosis assistance at a large Indian hospital. 2) Cloud Hedge (Application Containerization/Modernization technology) — has been very important partner in APAC region where cloud migration and App Modernization are in strong demand. We are seeking to roll-out Cloud Hedge solution to other regions based on the success in APAC, which we believe helps grow Cloud Hedge’s business. For both companies, we will try to work together in our customer projects as much as possible because these companies are considered as our priority partners in the respective tech areas.
8.Please, tell us a bit about your existing running program with TiE Pune, and what is the best way for startups to apply for the program?
Kazuya Murata: The core of this program is to identify and to meet with good startups. TiE Pune team recommends shortlisted startups based on the criteria discussed with NTT DATA out of all the applied companies. Then NTT DATA decides the final list of startups to have meetings, followed by actual business discussion if the meeting is successful. This cycle has been executed every 2–3 months although currently all the meetings are being held online. Please visit TiE Pune website where you can find the link for the application to this program anytime.
9. In general, what is the process of engaging with startups? What is the best way they approach you? Is there a point of contact, the startup can reach?
Kazuya Murata: TiE Pune is a great sourcing partner for us in India now, who understands our requirements and makes necessary arrangements on how best we can meet startups. So, they shall be able to provide appropriate guidance with startups when needed. Alternatively, startups can directly contact me via LinkedIn or Ideas to Impacts Hub Team.