IT@TT - Online

ACPL Systems, New Delhi is a pioneer in Indian-developed security solutions. From being a single product, B2C company, they have expanded into B2B too. G Menon of it@tt chatted online with Vishal Bindra, CEO, ACPL. Here are excerpts from this freewheeling discussion.

IT@TT: Can you update our readers about your company? When did you start.

VB: Nothing much about me. I think I'm a Maths graduate from Delhi University. I never went back to check if I passed or collect my degree. (smiley) I fell in love with computers in my first year and there's been no looking back since 1987.

IT@TT: How did you decide on antivirus as a product

VB: Back then we didn't think of it. We were into COBOL programming and were developing a project for Jesus and Mary College. Then one day all the letters started falling down. Our floppies were being corrupted too. We had no clue (then) what was the reason. I had just read an article about some Pakistani viruses. We guessed this had something to do with our problem so started researching the subject. One day we hit the jackpot: we built a software to resolve this Pakistani Brain problem.

IT@TT: I recall that there were several other Indian solutions.

VB: Yes there were. I can recall Red Alert, FutureSoft and Nashot. I think they were not able to break into the market because of technology. Viruses were even then fast becoming more complex and as this happened, the number of (available) solution went down.

IT@TT: The first product that I remember was Smartdog. Can you tell us something more it.

Actually Smartdog was not the first. The first was Trident which won the PC Quest Editor's Choice award beating McAfee and Norton. SmartDog was only released in 1995.

IT@TT: So what did Trident do, how much did it cost and how could did it win an award?

VB: Trident was (essentially) a collection of individual vaccines. We built a GUI to integrate them. We won the award because of features like data recovery and data protection based on interrupt vectors. Trident could "sense" virus activity. We shortly saw the same technology being introduced by McAfee.

Trident had a great feature which could capture interrupt activity. It then automatically initiate a virus scan. It was also the only product that didn't require the PC to be booted from a clean (virus-free) floppy. And worked with both DOS as well as Windows 3,1

IT@TT: Did Trident become Smartdog or was that something new?

VB: Smartdog was the new name after we re-launched ourselves in 1995. This happened because we had reduced the price of Trident, improved the GUI, added better virus protection and cleaning features. Smartdog was priced at Rs 99. We actually shipped nearly 10,000 copies of the new software. By early 1997 we had sold over 30,000 units despite raising prices to RS 150 each in mid-1996.

IT@TT: What did a buyer get?

VB: They got a floppy in a box. The user also could choose to subscribe to the product for RS 500. This got them one copy of the software plus 3 upgrades. We used to send these to their home address by post because there was no Internet then.

IT@TT: I recall at you were once offering a book on viruses. What happened to this?

VB: Yes, it was called Computer Virus: An Intelligent Piece of Code and cost RS 99. I still have a few copies left. If anyone is interested they could contact me.

IT@TT: So was Smartdog a success because of its pricing

VB: I like to think it was a success because it was a better product. (Laughs). But the pricing and the innovative plans we offered also had something to do with it. We were able to reduce our production and logistics costs to the very minimum.

IT@TT: ACPL sort of vanished from the public eye. What happened. Did the bubble burst?

VB: We defaulted in introducing new technology and in introducing the product to the corporate market. We were effectively occupying only the home market and couldn't provide any value addition to corporates. We also forgot to harness the power of the (then emerging) Internet.

IT@TT: Is it too late to effect a turn-around. I still don't see much domestic competition in this sector.

VB: It does not make economic sense to try that now. Most of the branded computers have pre-loaded anti viruses. Also one of the incidents that triggered the switch (away from Smartdog) was when I was negotiating with Trend for PC-cillin. They offered me version 6 with one year of upgrades for RS 200! This got the whole ball rolling.

Access to the Internet has also improved now. Companies like Trend have their free Housecall service for online virus scanning and cleaning. I feel that the market is moving to service providers from solution providers. Our major revenue stream is from service corporate clients.

IT@TT: But surely you are not selling the product so cheap!

VB: That was my price or the OEM price. I still have some 500-600 units lying with me that I am offering to your readers for RS 200. I can also offer RS 750 for the current top-of-the line product PC-cillin 2000.

IT@TT: So are you abandoning the home user

VB: Not at all. We are still very active in the home market with Trend's PC-cillin 2000. The difference is we can now visit individual users in their office and offer enterprise-level services. We still offer free email and phone support for any virus-related issues, irrespective of the product. When you sit down and calculate where revenue comes from, the largest chunk is corporates.

You have got to understand that when we talk of products developed in India, we only talk about them. And then go out and buy something "phoren." When its time to actually spend money Indian's always seem to prefer firangi stuff. I am offering an imported product in India was an unbeatable price. Your readers can purchase a special copy of PC-cillin 2000 for less than RS 900. The larger the order quantity the better the price.

IT@TT: You mentioned a special price on PC-cillin for it@tt readers, can you elaborate

VB: Sure. I still have some 400-500 units of PC-cillin v6 available. I can offer these at cost to your readers for RS 200 each delivered to their door. The product is Windows-complete and only lacks a POP email scan module.

IT@TT: Many readers look at a product depending on the level of after-sales service

VB: We don't offer anything without support. Our motto is "No Support No Product." I think people buy a product because of cost not because whether its made in India or not. I would also like to tell you that the business we did in one year (1999) with Smartdog we have done with PC-cillin in one quarter!

IT@TT: So who is your competition in India? What's ACPL's USP?

VB: The good part is now I have no competition. (Laughs). All are potential partners. ACPL's USP is that we are still the only company which talks of service and not about the product. We sell the product on its features and user requirements. I don't think there are too many other people who are qualified to give support

IT@TT: Can tell me what are the products available and their pricing?

VB: I'm offering PC-cillin 2000 at an end-user price of RS 1150. Trend's Enterprise Solution to protect your gateway, server, Groupware and corporate desktop with centralized management. This costs RS 1700 per user. We also have antivirus solutions available for Linux and other platforms as well. Contact it@tt for a copy of the price list.

IT@TT: What about desktop firewall solutions?

VB: I have Watchguard firewalls. Contact me for more information.

IT@TT: Finally, which are your favorite web sites

VB: antivirus.com, securityspace.com, argus-systems.com, antionline.com and zdnet.com

Interviewed By G Menon
[email protected]

Top

Other Articles