SAR Group CIO: Modern Tech Drives Insights & Customer Experience

New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) The multifaceted SAR Group, a household name with its Livguard batteries and Livpure Water purifiers and appliances, is using modern technologies to gain market insights and offer superior customer experience, says Group Chief Information Officer Saurabh Gupta.

The group, which promises unparalleled solutions in the domains of purity, health and wellness, energy storage, B2B e-commerce, cleantech, and investments, sold its majority stake in Luminous to French energy giant Schneider Electrics in 2011.

“Digital transformation is a key element of SAR Group's growth,” Gupta told PTI about the group that has a 36-year history.

It has forayed into electric mobility and is using Amazon Web Service (AWS) cloud services for its transformational journey, Gupta said as he spoke about SAR 2.0 and its increasing interests.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Can you provide a brief description about SAR group, its revenues, focus businesses, and market presence etc.

A: SAR Group, a venerable organization with a history spanning over 36 years, has cultivated a legacy of entrepreneurial prowess, marked by the establishment and growth of diverse enterprises that have earned the trust of millions of consumers. Throughout its journey, SAR Group has distinguished itself through its unwavering commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and the cultivation of enduring relationships.

Within the ambit of SAR Group's multifaceted operations, we offer unparalleled solutions in the domains of purity, health and wellness, energy storage, B2B e-commerce, cleantech, electric vehicles, and investments. Our cutting-edge research and development, coupled with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and the dedication of our team, has positioned SAR Group as a notable presence in more than 28 markets.

Q: Please elaborate on SAR Group's digital transformation journey so far. Did the pandemic accelerate the digital transformation for SAR Group?

A: SAR Group is a diversified group of various businesses in B2C, B2B, and B2B2C. Digital transformation is a key element of SAR Group's growth. Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of businesses and various aspects of SAR Group.

Some of the areas are as follows:

Cloud adoption: SAR Group earlier used on-premise platforms and data centre for technologies and services. A few applications were hosted on the cloud. During the pandemic, SAR Group sped up the adoption of cloud technologies to enable agility, encourage digital culture (with improved collaboration), and improve productivity due to having the right tech tools.

Remote work: The pandemic forced SAR Group businesses to adopt remote work rapidly. This led to a surge in demand for digital collaboration tools, cloud computing services and cybersecurity solutions.

E-commerce: With lockdowns and restrictions on physical stores, e-commerce experienced significant growth. To fuel growth, SAR Group business also focused on enabling D2C e-commerce-based business.

Digital payments: As people avoided physical cash and opted for touchless transactions to minimise the risk of virus transmission, SAR Group also enabled digital payments at various customer touchpoints.

Digital transformation initiatives: Businesses that had previously been slow to embrace digital transformation were compelled to fast-track their initiatives to remain competitive and responsive to rapidly changing customer behaviour and needs. SAR Group enabled a lot of digital transformation initiatives to gain a competitive advantage over competitors.

Cybersecurity: With the increased reliance on digital technologies, cybersecurity has become a paramount concern. SAR Group invested in cybersecurity solutions to protect their data and systems from cyber threats.

Q: How are you harnessing technology and digital advances to drive your offerings - in segments like water purifiers, smart home solutions and others, both at consumer-end and on the enterprise side?

A: Digital advances or harnessing technology presents the design and implementation of AI/ML/IoT-based system for water purifier, AC appliances, batteries and smart home appliances that enable predictive maintenance – for instance, WAAS (water as a service).

The designed system enables Livpure Smart Homes (SAR Group company) to monitor and gather information on the working status of their customers' devices in real-time. The customer can pay for the water usage rather than paying a heavy upfront cost for the water purifier. The profiles of water purifiers are stored and processed by a cloud server on a 24/7 basis. This allows Livpure to provide better customer support and enhance business efficiency with the help of devices embedded with sensors and software.

Livpure customer service centres utilise AI technology to monitor and process all communications. This helps us gain insights into market needs, customer expectations, problems, and possible issues. As a result, our response time has been significantly reduced, giving us a competitive advantage.

Q: Can you explain the major technologies used by you for your IT infrastructure needs? What trends are you seeing in the market, and among consumers, and how are these trends/changes defining your digital strategy?

A: SAR Group leverages technology to enable businesses and provide customers with a better experience.

Some of the technologies used by SAR Group are the following:

Cloud computing platforms: SAR Group heavily depends on cloud computing for scalable and quick deployment of various tools and technologies.
Containerisation and orchestration: Technologies like Docker for containerisation and Kubernetes for container orchestration are used in a scalable and efficient manner.

Version control: Version control systems are used for managing and tracking changes in the codebase.

Database technologies: NoSQL databases or key-value stores are used for managing large datasets efficiently.

Monitoring and logging: Tools like ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) or Prometheus and Grafana are used for monitoring and logging purposes. Security measures: Various security measures and protocols are implemented to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the models and data.

Q: What are some of the emerging technologies that you are most excited about in terms of disrupting your industry, in the coming years?

A: Emerging technologies like cloud computing and machine learning can save time and improve efficiency in all types of business processes. For example, implementing a digital technology like artificial intelligence frees employees to focus on tasks that require creativity and problem-solving. Similarly, data analytics with machine learning can give you insights to reach your business goals faster.

Traditionally, the water purifier industry, for instance, has relied on customers to perform timely maintenance. However, with the advent of emerging technologies like IoT, we can now monitor purifier health from the backend. This allows us to provide maintenance when needed, ensuring the delivery of pure and safe water. Additionally, QR code-based scanning is reducing the likelihood of counterfeit spare parts, further ensuring water purity.

Q: How have cloud technology and AWS enabled you to do better? Could you elaborate?

A: AWS has accelerated the transformation journey at SAR Group.

It has helped us in the following ways:



Scalability: The ability to scale resources up or down as needed is particularly beneficial for handling fluctuating workloads and business seasonality.

Compute power: AWS offers powerful computing instances that can be provisioned on-demand, providing the necessary infrastructure for running resource-intensive tasks.

Storage: Cloud services offer scalable and reliable storage solutions. This is essential for handling large datasets and files.

Flexibility and speed: AWS platforms provide a wide range of services and tools, offering flexibility in choosing the appropriate solutions for different tasks. Whether it's data storage, machine learning or other computing needs, AWS provides a variety of services that can be tailored to specific requirements at short notice.

Security: Cloud providers invest heavily in security measures to protect data and applications. They offer tools and services for identity and access management, encryption, and network security, among others. This helps SAR Group enhance the security of their applications and data.

(This story has been produced by PTI in collaboration with Amazon Web Services).