Cyber security spending is set to rise across government departments, hospitals and educational institutions as organisations adapt to remote and hybrid work and prepare for compliance under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, according to Accops CEO and co-founder Vijender Yadav.

Yadav said demand is shifting toward identity based access and centralised computing models that keep applications and data inside a controlled environment rather than on individual devices. Growth is coming from central and state government programmes, healthcare providers handling personal data and universities moving to virtual labs and flexible learning under the National Education Policy.

“Government has increased cyber security allocations, healthcare will invest more because of DPDP and education will adopt virtual labs to support NEP 2.0,” Yadav told TechObserver.in’s Mohd Ujaley.

Edited excerpts:

What early influences have shaped your approach to technology and building Accops?

During my engineering days I was always keen to experiment and understand things deeply. When I joined the Army Institute of Technology it was my first time away from home, so I was eager to learn fast and build from first principles. My career began in system programming, networking and cyber security rather than application development, and that gave me the foundation for what we build at Accops today in IT infrastructure, cloud, virtualisation and cyber security.

Building the company has followed the same philosophy. There are two ways to run a startup. One is to raise capital early and follow a planned approach. The other is to remain bootstrapped and move quickly based on customer feedback. We chose the second path. Our model has been to listen to customers, respond fast, iterate and move on. That helped us reach product market fit and remain profitable. Even though Reliance invested two years ago, it was a secondary transaction, so we continue to operate as a bootstrapped business and run on customer revenue, not investor money.

How has remote and hybrid work changed enterprise security architecture?

Before Covid most users worked inside private networks and remote access was limited. Covid changed that. Applications moved to the cloud and users were spread across offices, homes and micro offices. Users had different profiles and different device environments, so one technology could not meet all requirements.

Identity became the first non-negotiable because impersonation risk increased once users could log in from anywhere. Organisations are integrating applications under a single identity platform and implementing IAM (Identity and Access Management).

Network security also had to change. VPN (Virtual Private Network) was designed for limited users. When usage expanded it did not deliver the required security. Zero trust models are now preferred, giving users access only to specific applications rather than the full network, based on context such as user, location and device.

The most secure model is to keep applications and data in a controlled container. VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) became important during Covid because it provided this level of protection. Today organisations are balancing identity, contextual access and containerised computing to support distributed workforces.

AI adoption and edge computing are expected to increase. What impact will this have on VDI and end-user-computing?

The impact of edge computing will grow when edge data centres become widely available. When compute is available closer to the user it will make centralised orchestration of desktops more practical.

The legacy desktop model is expensive and difficult to manage. Buying a PC, installing and patching the OS, deploying applications and securing the device takes continuous effort for five years. Many of the costs are not measured directly, including productivity loss, device loss and delays in enabling new users.

Centralised computing reduces these issues. Desktops can be provisioned in minutes, updates and patches can be rolled out faster and recovery after an attack becomes easier because desktops can be recreated automatically.

AI will make desktops more powerful but also more complex and harder to secure. ESG requirements will also push organisations to reconsider high powered devices for users who need only basic computing. These factors will accelerate adoption of centralised and virtualised desktops.

How will Digital Personal Data Protection Act affect end-user-computing?

DPDP requires organisations to know where personal data is stored and to delete it end to end on request. VDI helps because data never leaves the controlled environment.

Other tools for data classification will exist, but they may not work across every user environment. For example, banks outsource many processes and data moves to vendor systems. Banks currently manage this by giving devices to vendors and enforcing controls. That is expensive. With DPDP similar expectations will apply across industries, including hospitality and others that handle Aadhaar and PAN data. VDI provides an economical way to control data without combining multiple security tools.

Where is Accops seeing growth domestically and internationally?

From day one our go to market strategy has been channel led, through distributors and partners. That helped us scale outside India without building a large sales organisation. We focused on nearby regions such as the Middle East, Japan, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. These markets were underserved by global competitors and needed an integrated, cost effective solution with local support.

What sectors will drive demand in India in the next two to three years?

Government is a major sector. Post Covid cyber security budgets have increased at central and state levels and in PSUs. Healthcare will invest more because DPDP brings formal data protection obligations. Education is also key. With NEP 2.0 allowing flexible learning across institutions, colleges and universities need virtual labs and modern digital infrastructure to deliver courses and practical examinations remotely. These three sectors will drive the next phase of adoption.