ContentKeeper partners with Indian telco

The deal will create between five to 10 jobs at ContentKeeper's Canberra office in the near future.

Tata Communications is the largest provider of international long distance, enterprise data and internet services in India, a country with over 100 million internet users.

The company is part of the US$62.5 billion Tata Group.

This is the first time an Australian internet security solution provider has entered the Indian market on such a scale.

Austrade's Delhi-based senior trade commissioner, Peter Linford said the deal underscored the strength of the Australian ICT industry.

"India has become a hub for information technology to the world, and Tata Communications has a global footprint in the industry," he said.

"It is a great achievement for an Australian SME to secure such a significant partnership with a world leader in the field."

ContentKeeper and Tata Communications will jointly deliver the web filtering solution to Tata's SME customers via the company's web portals.

The Indian SME market for IT products and services is estimated at $5.5 billion. In 2006-07, there were over 12.8 million micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country.

The solution will allow Indian businesses to define and enforce internet usage policies, monitor, manage and control staff internet activity, and secure their networks against web-based threats.

Delivered as a managed service, the product will take the strain off corporate IT infrastructure and free up resources for other business functions.

Manish Kumar head of sales and marketing, ContentKeeper said Indian SMEs generally rely on their internet service provider for IT security.

"This alliance has given us access to the entire SME market in India-a segment that was previously difficult for us to reach," he said.

Kumar said Austrade's local knowledge was invaluable to ContentKeeper's expansion into the sub-continent.

"Chaitanya Patil at Austrade Bengalooru (Bangalore) advised us on the best local partners to pursue, the way to establish communications with Tata, and helped see the relationship result in a concrete outcome," he said.

Linford said despite the global downturn, the Indian ICT market was growing steadily with more Indian firms continuing to invest in IT hardware and software to improve productivity.

"A recent Gartner report said India's domestic market for IT services is the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific, expected to reach US$11.8 billion by 2012. This means more opportunities for innovative Australian IT firms."