‘Pharma industry is heavily regulated and HIPAA compliance mandates that the industry encrypts its data’

Rahul Kumar, Country Manager, WinMagic throws light on the importance of data security solutions and the need to adopt encryption by the pharma industry, in a tête-à-tête with Mansha  Gagneja

What are the different data security options available and why is encryption of data becoming a more favoured option?

Securing data is the priority for Chief Information Security Officer of an organisation. The only way to secure data is by encrypting it. This ensures that the data is not accessible to unauthorised users.

What will be the application of encryption in the pharma sector?

Pharma industry is heavily regulated and HIPAA compliance mandates that the industry encrypts its data. The compliance is aimed at securing the data at rest, thereby ensuring that the research data is secure and can’t be compromised. This is one of the industries which creates a lot of IP and it is imperative that the customer is able to ensure that their IP is secure and with them.

How widely is the pharma sector adopting these solutions as it is often labelled as a technology laggard?

The industry is fairly good in adopting the technology primarily because of compliance. However, what we have seen in the market is that pharma customers have troubles with encryption. Once they are aware about solutions available for managing encryption, it will be hassle-free. That is what we bring to the table and customers are very happy about it.

What are the encryption challenges that exist in the changing tech world?

The challenges have really been the same for a couple of decades. User experience is one of the biggest challenge when it comes to end-point encryption. Encryption industry has not seen a lot of innovations in the space and we are the only company that focuses on this area and we bring a seamless user experience for the customer.

How are your solutions helping pharma companies secure their data? How are they different from the existing solutions?

Pharma companies like the fact that we bring in a solution which helps them manage encryption, a perpetual pain area, better. The users are now happy using this technology as it is simple and does not interfere with their working. The bottom line is – encryption was a word which used to push customers away and now – customers know that a better world exists.

What is your market share? Tell us about your major clientele.

We have some of the key enterprise customers in India. Our clientele includes four big consulting houses, three top pharma companies, three insurance companies and three retail companies. We have more than 110 customers in India now and we are reaching a stage where customers, when they think about encryption, think about us.

Are there any other solutions or upgrades in the pipeline for the pharma industry?

We have recently come up with a solution to help customers secure their cloud infrastructure. We are seeing a lot of traction for this as customers have been wary about the security of their virtualised environments.

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