iYogi: Gadget Woes Erased

accessories,completely ruining our excitement on the new purchase; the iPod or iPad does not sync properly with iTunes…and so on and so forth. While in the office,the IT staff is around to resolve our IT-related problems,back home even a minor glitch such as the paper getting struck in the printer can drive one crazy. In a nutshell,the superior digital experience we were anticipating quickly transforms into a nightmare. Imagine the plight of a cash-strapped small and medium business (SMB) that seeks to leverage technology to further its business and ends up in a digital mess,on account of computing and communications devices going awry!

A glimmer of hope appears to be round the corner,courtesy a six year-old tech support firm called iYogi. This Gurgaon-based firm was launched by Uday Challu and Vishal Dhar to create a one-stop solution for consumers and small and medium businesses looking for seamless

support to answer all their digital problems,across a wide range of computing and communications devices and software. Initially supporting 32 software applications,iYogi now provides support for over 500 software applications,hardware devices and peripherals.

Due to its unique offerings,iYogi has witnessed rapid growth and currently generates over 20,000 service requests every day across 10 countries. With over two and a half million users,iYogi has managed over 13.5 million incidents since its inception. It has over three million devices under management and the company’s 5,000 tech experts receive over 20,000 service requests daily. Today iYogi is a $100 million company,growing at 300% with a total funding of over $72 million raised from investors such as Sequoia Capital India,Canaan Partners,SVB India Capital Partners,SAP Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

“We started our services in the US as it was a mature market for technology and we differentiated ourselves by making our services available instantly,24×7 and at a price point that was extremely competitive,” says the company CEO and co-founder,Uday Challu who along with Vishal Dhar had the foresight to look for a niche solution that was relevant for anyone with even a single or multiple devices. “Having achieved these milestones in the West,we decided to replicate our learning for the Indian market,which is ripe for such a solution,” says Challu (see interview).

iYogi provides both remote and onsite support for a wide range of computer hardware devices and software for customers who are subscribed to their services. In India,it is now opening up its services for consumers and small and medium businesses. The opportunity for SMB tech support in India stands at R10,000 crore,expected to grow dramatically. The enterprise segment is a new area that iYogi is targeting with its Digital Service Cloud platform for original equipment manufacturers,telcos,technology retailers and BPO companies.

According to a recent industry survey,consumers spend,on average,17 minutes on a smartphone,30 minutes on a tablet,39 minutes on a PC/laptop and 43 minutes on a TV. Consulting firm Gartner says that more than 226 million mobile phones were sold to end users in Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2013,which helped the region increase its share of global mobile phones to 53.1% year-on-year. As per CyberMedia Research estimates,India registered 221.6 million mobile handset shipments for CY2012. It is ranked fifth in PCs in use globally and third in internet growth. The Indian household also now has 2.5 devices on an average and the country’s huge youth population is rapidly adopting technology—mobile phones,laptops,tablets,MP3 players and smart TVs.

Considering that each urban home in India has atleast one PC,laptop,tablet,smartphone and smart TVs,tech support service such as iYogi’s can really help improve the digital experiences for consumers. Similarly,small and medium businesses are increasingly using technology to enable their business and the iYogi founders are confident in their ability to enable them (SMB) to leverage these investments.

A question arises: India is a price-sensitive market and despite the rapid proliferation of electronic devices,there are fears that tech support for them will not be high on the agenda,right? “I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” says Vishal Dhar,the marketing president and co-founder of iYogi. “Around 10% of the total traffic on our website comes from the India region and with the rapid adoption of technology in India,people are looking for solutions and services that make the experience smooth and hassle-free. The shipment of technology in India has been very rapid with more than 90 crore phones in the market and more than 7 crore computing units in the country.”

The tech support market in India is highly fragmented. Customers whether consumers or small businesses have to go to multiple sources,depending on the product they require support for and even then their issues do not always get resolved. “In India,there is no one who provides services 24×7,who offers guarantee of turnaround time,and on the price quoted versus the final bill. We believe that the convenience of receiving tech support without invasion of privacy,knowing exactly what’s wrong and how it’s getting fixed and that it’s already paid for is something that households in India will grow to understand,accept and finally appreciate,” says Dhar.

Being a new economy firm,iYogi has successfully created a brand for itself and marketed itself across various countries primarily through the internet. “Our thousands of self-service tech support videos syndicated via multiple social media platforms generate enormous amounts of traffic. We currently market through 350 Web properties and over a 100,000 pages of purposeful content,” says Dhar.

Going forward,iYogi plans to double its headcount from the existing 5,000 over the next three years and also increase the company’s footprint in Europe,APAC and Latin America markets. The company’s founders foresee 10% of its global revenues to come from India over the next one year. With over 22% of time spent on the internet being on social mediums,the firm is also in the process of launching a new product (Tech Genie) that it feels will transform how and where support is accessed.

Put simply,great tech support is only a phone call or a click away!

Digital Web

* India’s huge youth population is rapidly adopting mobile phones,laptops,tablets,smart TVs

* India registered 221.6 million mobile handset shipments

for CY2012.

* The Indian household now has 2.5 devices on an average

* The opportunity for SMB tech support in India stands at

R10,000 crore

* iYogi has over three million devices under management

* The company’s 5,000 tech experts receive over 20,000 service requests daily

* It is targeting the enterprise segment with its Digital Service Cloud platform