In 2020 and 2021, cloud computing exploded as work went virtual and businesses adapted to the global pandemic by focusing on the delivery of digital services. In 2022, the rapid adoption has grown further. Granicus is the first and only Government technology provider that connects governments to the citizens they serve with an innovative cloud technology platform. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Ranga Shetty, General Manager, Granicus India.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

Headquartered in Denver, Granicus is the first and only Government technology provider that connects governments to the citizens they serve with an innovative cloud technology platform. The innovation powered by a highly secure platform provides a unified intuitive digital experience with interactions, feedback, record management, and transparency. By offering the industry's leading cloud-based solutions for communications, web content, meeting management, and digital services to over 5,000 public sector organizations, Granicus helps turn government missions into quantifiable realities. Founded in 1999, Granicus is purpose-built with infrastructure, scale, and security to empower the public sectors.

2. Tell us how your company is contributing to the IoT/AI/Big Data Analytics/Robotics/Cloud Computing industry of the nation and how the company is benefiting the clients.

Our market success is grounded in our commitment to innovation. Our multi-tenant cloud solutions are transforming the ways that governments, residents, and businesses interact. We have systems in Microsoft's Azure, Amazon's AWS, and in highly secure government-focused colocation data centers.  Our systems generate massive amounts of data, and, by applying data science, we can provide our users with highly impactful insights. Examples include providing vaccination hesitancy insights to help states and cities in the US get their citizens vaccinated against COVID19. Another use case is where Machine Learning is used to identify businesses that are not in compliance with regulations. Over the next several years we intend to heavily invest in data science to drive even more impact. Driving interoperability and data sharing between our systems is a strategic imperative. We have built a massively scalable, highly fault-tolerant, publish, and subscribe infrastructure which processes millions of transactions an hour as data flows across our networks.

3. Kindly mention some of the major challenges Granicus has faced till now.

Some of the major challenges that governments face are in the area of sustainable urban development.  Issues related to balancing developmental needs versus disruption to existing communities are often emotive and there are non-negotiable parameters within which decisions must occur. One such issue is in the area of housing development where community members have strong views on how much and what type of housing development is acceptable in their neighborhoods. An innovative approach to this challenge is our Housing Simulation tool which allows community members to develop hypothetical housing plans for a targeted number of additional homes in the community with flexibility for choosing a housing mix of their choice. The customized tool incorporates information about each dwelling type, scale, and potential impact on existing neighborhoods. Participants can identify what they feel is an acceptable housing mix and have the opportunity to explain why they make those choices. The simulated housing plans submitted by the community help build a picture of what residents consider acceptable in terms of housing density moving forward. They also can shift community attitudes when there is a greater understanding of options and impacts. This fresh approach to dealing with sustainable urban development issues enables governments to deliver strategic urban development programs in line with the preferences and expectations of communities while also meeting local and state government priorities.

4. How do you plan to revolutionize the Indian market and what are your plans to tap the market?

The company is committed to building technology and solutions for governments across the world to drive meaningful change for the communities. The India center will be the hub of innovation that will drive the core product development for Granicus to make world-class products and solutions. Granicus India is focused on product innovation, and it requires one to develop a higher-order awareness of the problem space. Let us look at an example – For Granicus, the problem space is government-citizen engagement. Creating a run-of-the-mill website or a portal to address this need would be a superficial approach to this problem. A deeper look at the problem space will lead to the realization that there is an opportunity to expand the scope of engagement by crafting solutions that activate the silent majority and not just the vocal few who tend to dominate government-citizen interactions. This deeper understanding is what creates the opportunity for innovation and that is what we plan to do in India.

5. What are the skill sets that you specifically look for while hiring them at an initial stage?

As Granicus India will be a key engineering center focussing on product innovation that powers our technology solutions, the center is creating a competitive engineering workplace that attracts and retains world-class talent. Granicus is rooted in its strong culture that treats code as a craft and respects every employee for the expertise and passion they bring to work. We are dedicated to building a world-class collaborative environment that fosters the free exchange of ideas, individual accountability, and a fun-filled time at work.

Our engineers are experts at building massively scalable, highly secure systems that are purpose-built for government and civic engagement. We also are experts at using the massive amounts of data flowing through our systems to derive highly impactful insights using analytics, data science, AI, and ML.

6. What is your Leadership Mantra?

Long-term business success requires a fanatical and consistent focus on execution excellence. For a technology business, this is driven by a high degree of rigor in engineering processes. However, the fast pace of change in the technology world creates the risk of getting disrupted by a newcomer, and execution excellence does not protect you from this risk. Thus technology leadership needs to create an environment that nurtures alternative points of view. Two unique values practiced by Granicus' engineering organization are (i) Code as a craft and (ii) Humanity of developers. Code as craft ensures that our product teams blend their creative energies with their technical expertise to design purpose-built solutions that delight the customer. And Humanity of developers creates a collaborative space where each team member is respectful of the other's opinions, thus creating a friction-free environment where they can churn ideas into an impactful outcome. Technology leadership that role models our values is key to our success.

7. How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

As India's talent pool continues to grow and mature, we can proudly expect to contribute an ever-increasing share of product innovations to the world. At Granicus India, we are inspired to bring the power of digital technologies to revolutionize how governments serve their citizens around the world. As Granicus India will be a key engineering center focussing on product innovation that powers our technology solutions, the center is creating a competitive engineering workplace that attracts and retains world-class talent. Granicus is rooted in its strong culture that treats code as a craft and respects every employee for the expertise and passion they bring to work. We are dedicated to building a world-class collaborative environment that fosters the free exchange of ideas, individual accountability, and a fun-filled time at work. Our engineers are experts at building massively scalable, highly secure systems that are purpose-built for government and civic engagement. We also are experts at using the massive amounts of data flowing through our systems to derive highly impactful insights using analytics, data science, AI, and ML.