Sukumar Bala, Director, Sales, India, ADVA
As ADVA’s sales director for India, Sukumar Bala plays a crucial role within the region. He is responsible for sales engagement with customers in India and the SAARC countries, as well as for global account management.
ADVA is a leading provider of open networking solutions for the delivery of cloud and mobile services. The company designs, develops and manufactures networking products, including wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communication systems, high speed fibre-optic converters, and EDFA modules. ADVA’s products are often used in high speed centralised data storage and disaster recovery solutions.
Sukumar has over 22 years of experience in the telecom sector. In the past, he has managed the sales and marketing functions for various network and equipment vendors, handling a range of customer portfolios, including government, private operators, internet service providers and utilities.
“I have been fortunate to be a party to the exemplary technology growth that the sector has witnessed, from 64kbit/s with E1 to 10Gbit/s and 100Gbit/s. The development of technology has been much faster in the last decade, particularly in the second half, and we are now rapidly moving towards multiples of 100Gbit/s and beyond.”
According to Sukumar, the bandwidth requirements of enterprises and mobile networks are increasing at a rapid pace, with multi-tenant business buildings aiming for 100Gbit/s access capacity. The number of enterprise customers asking for 100Gbit/s connectivity has also risen sharply as demand has grown for faster access to applications and data hosted in the cloud.
“In recent years, telecom and internet service providers have undertaken capacity expansion programs. A primary driver for such expansion has been the need to prepare their networks for 5G technology, which will allow operators to explore opportunities related to the internet of things, augmented and virtual reality, etc.,” commented Sukumar. “Network functions virtualisation is another area where software-based solutions are playing a critical role.”
An electronics and communications engineer by training, Sukumar also has a diploma in marketing management. In his free time, Sukumar likes to unwind by going on long drives. He is a music enthusiast and loves listening to Tamil music from the 1980s and 1990s. He is also involved in Tamil theater. His family comprises his wife, a homemaker who is also active in Tamil theater, and their son, a high school student.
