CRN - 1 October 2012 by UBM India

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Authorized Distributor: Ingram Micro India Limited | Sadhaka Nanda | Email: sadhaka.n@ingrammicro.co.in

contents

October 01, 2012 l Volume 1 Issue 23

Cover Story Eight partners share their plans to sustain high growth rates in the current economic slowdown

25 Cover Design : Deepjyoti Bhowmik

NEWS Analyses

Channel Chief

BenQ wants a larger pie of the education market

Netgear charts SMB strategy

Cisco Xchange to drive partner-led services biz

Inspan launches new retail company

Norton plans comeback with mobile security

Axis scouting for 350 new partners

READ More 14

Opinion

Feedback

Channel Buzz

New Products

Shadow Ram

Get Personal

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

18 Special Feature Partners making critical difference

21 Role Model

Editorial

Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe, speaks about the changes in the company’s partner-led GTM strategy and future plans

Old values new technologies Rajesh Kalra, MD & CEO, Sterling Infoways, has built a successful company by following old-world business values

Tech Focus Intel’s mobility push Mobile devices ranging from smartphones to ultrabooks were on tap at the recently concluded Intel Developer Forum 2012. Here are 10 Intel-powered gadgets that stuck out from the crowd

ODSP 3350 USF (3.1)

ODSP 103 (USB)

ODSP100 (USB)

ODSP 613 (USB)

ODSP 5500 USF (5.1)

ODSP 113 (WITH MIC)

ODY 222 RE (PS2/USB) ODY 007 RE COMBO (PS2/USB) ODSP 213 (WITH MIC)

OD 200G

ODSP 413 (WITH MIC)

ODYSSEY NEO 700 RB ODY 718 USB & 617 PS2 ODY 713 RC USB

ODY 716 USB & 615 PS2 ODY 720 USB & 619 PS2

OD 203

3D UL 1020

UL 1009

Agra - 6453125, 4041027, Ahmedabad - 64508450, 26851663, Amritsar - 6450186, Aurangabad - 645 7141, Bangalore - 65687567, Baroda - 6595588, Bhopal - 6464925, Bhubneshwar - 6510444, Calicut - 6515152, Chandigarh - 6512547, 2694932, Chennai – 64501273,28412414, Cochin - 2205051/52/53, Coimbatore - 6572160, Dehradun - 6546333, Delhi - 64734905, 26387897, Ghaziabad - 6517809, Goa - 6514657, Gurgaon - 6453544, Guwahati - 9207411634, Hubli - 6453123, Hyderabad - 66901598, Indore - 6510124, Jabalpur - 6457306, Jaipur 6577844, 2280421, Jammu - 2437478, Kanpur- 9235601410, Karnal - 6450508, Kolhapur- 9223101332, Kolkatta- 64517248, 22315174, Kottayam - 6452013, Lucknow - 6546333, 2286134, Ludhiana - 6512545, 6450125, Madurai - 6463839, Mangalore - 6451030, 2494355, Mumbai – 65261670,65990329, Nagpur - 6502571, 2420009, Nasik - 6450103, Parwanoo645108, Patna - 6453850, 6450116, Pondicherry - 6530470, Pune - 65205706, 24497489, Raipur - 6538333, 4221307, Rajkot - 6593588, Ranchi - 6455499, Siliguri - 6450108, Surat 6596267, Trivendrum - 6535433, Varanasi - 6454820,Vijaywada - 6622872, Vizag - 6590992.

starting line MUST

BenQ wants a larger pie of the education market

Netgear charts SMB strategy

n amit singh

Read

Netgear, which was focused on the home networking segment in India for the last eight years, is now targeting the SMB segment. “As a policy, we are clear that we do not want to commoditize our products. Even in the home networking space, we sold the routers for $50 (`3,000) each. Although it took us eight years to stabilize, we are now growing at the rate of 35 percent YoY in India,” said Patrick Lo, Chairman & CEO, Netgear. Justifying the steep pricing of its products, Lo said that Netgear is the only networking company which provides a software-defined networking architecture for the home segment. Besides, its product portfolio comprises L3 switches; encore switches in 8, 10, 24 and 48 ports; 10 GB aggregators; ReadyNAS storage boxes which can be scaled up to 18 TB; and controllerbased solutions for wireless and UTMs. “In short, we provide all the components for a data center. We generally distribute in tier-1 and -2 cities, and want to focus on the SMBs in the top Patrick Lo eight cities for our next phase of growth.” The company has appointed Subhodeep Bhattacharya as its Regional Director for India & Saarc to drive growth. Said Bhattacharya, “We are tapping opportunities in organizations with up to 1,000 employees. On the channel front we are recruiting 4-5 VARs and SIs in cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad over the next 12 months.” Once the partners come on board, Netgear will make joint calls, conduct seminars and lead-generation activities, and work jointly on the initial projects. “One reason partners will stick to us is that we are cent-percent partnercentric. Another reason is that we support only one SI per project, hence there is no competition or price undercutting,” Lo explained. n — Sonal Desai

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

enQ is betting big on education, and is targeting 60 percent of its projector sales from this segment. The company wants to sell one lakh projectors in 2013. Said Rajeev Singh, Country Head & GM, BenQ India, “The education segment is embracing advanced technology which has redefined how teachers and students share information and ideas. We already have an installed base of more than 50,000 projectors in education catering to more than 20 lakh students.” According to Futuresource Consulting, the company currently has a 20 percent share in the projector market in India that was estimated at 2.28 lakh units in 2011. According to BenQ, the market will grow to 2.7-3 lakh units in 2012 and 3.5-4 lakh units in 2013. The company is targeting 25 percent marketshare in 2013. It has developed a 3-pronged strategy of product expansion, channel expansion and focused marketing. BenQ recently introduced the LW61ST Laser projector, MW860USTi PointDraw interactive projector, and MX518 offering top-bottom 3D display capability. The company will soon launch GP10, a DVDdocking 500 Lumens LED portable projector. According to Singh, “These projectors, focused on education, are equipped with features such as power savings of up to 90 percent, dual interactivity and laser projection. The LW61ST incorporates the BlueCore light engine with laser light source. While the BlueCore engine can dim the light source power up to 90 percent to achieve a contrast ratio as high as 80,000:1, the laser light source has three times the life of a mercury lamp.”

“We will have 250 partners in 2013, of whom about 80 will be education focused, mostly in upcountry locations that are largely untapped” Rajeev Singh

Country Head and GM BenQ India

Besides, the company has introduced SmartEco technology for the education segment; SmartEco helps to save up to 70 percent of lamp power without compromising on image quality. Of the total 25 models for education, the company has more than 10 SKUs on SmartEco. On the channel front, BenQ is looking for VARs and SIs active in office automation, AV integration or education. The company currently has 175 partners with about 50 of them focused on education. “We will have 250 partners in 2013, of whom about 80 will be education-focused, mostly in Class C, D and E cities,” Singh said. The company supports partners with a returnable demo unit free of cost, and more than 50 sales personnel appointed at 25+ locations. Informed Singh, “In addition, we motivate partners with quarterly schemes offering foreign trips and other gifts.” BenQ currently has about 115 services centers which it aims to increase to 200 by 2012-end. “We are increasing the number of centers for panel repairs and also increasing the buffer stock of spare parts at the branch offices,” added Singh. n

starting line MUST

Cisco Xchange to drive partner-led services biz

Inspan launches new retail company

n sonal desai

Read

Chennai-based distributor Inspan Infotech has ventured into IT retail by floating a new company called Ziptech. Ziptech’s first store is a Lenovo Exclusive Store at Chennai, which was launched in early September. Said S Sudhir, MD, Inspan, “We have decided to diversify into retail considering the potential that the segment offers.” He informed that plans are on to set up more stores, both multi-brand and single brand. “We are planning to wait for one or two quarters before we expand, but we are sure that we will launch more stores next year.” Sudhir explained that the reason for launching a separate entity to manage retail is to ensure that the channel partners of Inspan are not confused by a dual identity. “Besides, we will not compete with our partners as we will not be retailing the products we distribute through our stores. The distribution and retail business will be managed separately.” He also said that Inspan has decided to go slow on the S Sudhir distribution front following the rupee-dollar fluctuations. “Most of our principals bill us in dollars. An unstable rupee has made the business unattractive and risky, hence we have stalled some of our expansion plans in distribution to focus on retail.” About the rationale for starting with Lenovo he said, “Lenovo has the momentum in the country, and is the No 1 PC maker. We also found their retail strategy to be the most attractive.” According to Sudhir, FDI in retail will not impact the Indian retail business. “Three out of four states in south India, where we will be expanding our retail business, have not agreed to FDI in retail. We believe it’s just a question of time before these states also agree to FDI in retail. However, we would have established our chain by then.” n — Ramdas S

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

isco has launched an exclusive partner engagement program named Cisco Services Xchange (CSX) for the sales executives of its tier-1 and -2 partners in India and Saarc. According to Cisco, 750 sales executives from 300 tier-1 and -2 partner organizations across India and Saarc have registered for CSX since the program was launched two months ago. The CSX is an online platform that covers the entire range of Cisco services including network management, optimization and 24x7 SMTC. It works at multiple levels to create a live engagement engine between the vendor and partners. It offers partners features such as learning and development, training, informal interactions and real-time alerts, and awards achievers through point redemption schemes. The platform also allows partners to customize the Cisco partner portal, mount their logos, and manage customers and networks. “We have launched a sales incentive engine that can drive engagement and revenue, and reduce partner sales force attrition through continuous learning, development and rewards. We will also utilize CSX as a partner enablement engine to introduce new programs,” said Amitabh Patney, VP, Services, Cisco. According to him, partners who have started shifting to services are seeing close to 50 percent increase in revenue, and 70 percent of their profit comes from services. Patney added that with CSX sales executives will have access to a number of learning and development modules which will help them beef up their presentation and soft skills for closing a deal.

“CSX offers learning and development programs that partners can take advantage of to advance their services business. No certification is required” Amitabh Patney Vice President Services, Cisco

“CSX is a platform to promote services among partners; it will improve their margins and ROI in the long term,” Patney stated. “CSX offers learning and development programs which partners can take advantage of to advance their business. All Cisco partners servicing SMBs are eligible to participate in the program. Partners are not required to pass any certification. They start earning points the minute they register—from updating their content to making a sale.” As a promotion, Cisco has already launched a couple of schemes around CSX. Partners and their teams can win prizes including shopping vouchers, travel accessories, Samsung Galaxy Notes, BlackBerry Playbooks and holiday destination packages. The partner sales force can redeem the first lot of their reward points against prizes on October 25, 2012, and the second lot by January 20, 2013. Owners of partner organizations can use the reward points to participate in a bumper prize contest. Patney is confident that in the next three years 70 percent of customers will move from normal to smart services; the company’s aim is to convert all its customers to smart services. n

starting line MUST

Norton plans comeback with mobile security

Axis scouting for 350 new partners

n ABHIJEET MUKHERJEE

Read

Axis Communications has launched a number of initiatives targeted at its SMB customers and partners. “Last year we doubled our installed base in the SMB segment, and are aiming to double our SMB business to 30 percent of our total business by 2013-end,” said Sudhindra Holla, Country Manager, Axis Communications, India. Axis recently introduced its M30 series of network cameras with HD performance supported by the Axis Camera Companion software solution. The solution enables plug-and-play installation of up to 16 cameras with automated IP configuration. “While the solution makes the installation easy, the cameras’ built-in microSDHC card slot enables several days of recording to be stored locally on a memory card,” he informed. Highlighting the company’s initiatives, Holla said that Axis will target the top 500 SMB customers in Q12013. It will organize events in tier-2 and -3 cities, and launch joint marketing initiatives with partners. On the channel Sudhindra Holla front, by 2013-end, the company is aiming to add about 350 partners in tier-2 and -3 cities. Axis currently has an active partner-base of about 250. Of this, 226 are authorized partners catering to SMBs/SOHOs, 12 are silver partners serving mid-market customers, and 12 are gold partners catering to the enterprise. The company recently signed on ADI India as a distributor in addition to Ingram Micro and Anixter. “ADI has a large security installed base that will help us penetrate SMB customers. Moreover, it has wide expertise to drive the transition from analog to digital surveillance,” explained Holla. To build competencies in IP surveillance, Axis has launched a certification program for system designers and technical staff of its partners. On the enterprise front, Axis started organizing customer events in Q22012, and has conducted four such events focused on the government, PSU, manufacturing and hospitality segments. n — Amit Singh

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

n a bid to increase its penetration in India, Norton is revamping its pricing strategy, mobile security products, and focus on class B and C cities. About the new strategies, Ritesh Chopra, Country Sales Manager, India, Norton, said, “We have added new features such as email, social media and online chat scan to our existing products but have not increased the price. With support for multiple operating systems, Norton 360 will now be available with 25 GB of online back-up at the earlier price of `3,499.” The company has Fortune Marketing as its national distributor for antivirus aimed at PC users. It recently appointed HCL Digilife as its distributor for mobile security. Norton is banking on Digilife’s partner network to reach its mobile security products to 200 cities across India. For PC users, Norton currently has a presence in 22 cities which it plans to increase to 30 by the OND quarter. The company intends to focus on its mobile security business. The products have features such as anti-theft, anti-malware, and locate and remote wipe; they are priced at `580. Norton is looking at around 24 million mobile phone users for its mobile security products. “In a survey, we found that 72 percent of mobile users possess smartphones and that 50 percent of them access the Internet on their devices,” Chopra informed. “Further, 93 percent of the people accessing the Internet are using mobile phones which are vulnerable to security threats.” Norton also plans to consolidate its channel partners. In FY2011-12 Norton had increased its sub-distributor base from 65 to 200, and its reseller base from 1,200 to 3,000. “We now

“We intend to focus on the mobile security which presents a big opportunity with the rapidly growing base of smartphones in India” Ritesh Chopra

Country Sales Manager, Norton India

want to consolidate our channel base,” Chopra informed. The company has added three secondary sales executives, one each in the north, west and south. In addition, it has appointed a National Partner Sales Manager to improve relations with OEMs and partners. The importance of retail is not lost on the company. It has forged deals with e-tailers such as Flipkart and Snapdeal as authorized online retailers, and is also in talks with some of the leading LFRs. Said Chopra, “Q12013 onward, we will start retailing our products through these portals.” The company is also introducing new schemes to increase sales. For each Norton 360 license purchased, the company is providing an extra license. The scheme, floated from September 15, 2012, is valid up to October 31, 2012. “Other options are that customers can extend the license up to a year, or use the same license for three devices,” Chopra informed. Norton intends to conduct 40 road-shows for partners this fiscal. “We have plans for incentivizing partners through various programs. We will also come out with special schemes for Diwali,” informed Chopra. n

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edit opinion The upside of the downturn

Volume 1, Issue 23

dhaval valia

n economic downturn is usually a good time to put one’s house in order. It allows for tough decisions to be made about people, processes, go-to-market, vendor relations and so forth. The first thing any slowdown does is magnify the unnecessary (and sometimes inexplicable) cost overheads—all the small and big costs that can easily be trimmed. For example, you could renegotiate contracts such as those for mobile services and office leases. A slow market often separates the performers from nonperformers, providing a great opportunity to reorganize and optimize your team. Get rid of the non-performers and excusegivers, and replace them with more deserving candidates at much lower salary levels. The performers can be promoted and groomed for leadership roles. Over the years, global economic downturns have, more often than not, led to changes in the marketplace and customer requirements. Most of us agree that the slowdown of the last four years has brought in some significant changes in IT buying behavior and requirements. Capex to opex, cloud services, enterprise mobility and managed services are some of the major changes we have witnessed. This downturn can therefore be used by partners to do a SWOT analysis of their organizations and to prepare a market strategy that keeps them relevant in a future that will most definitely require them to remodel their businesses in keeping with customer demands. It’s time to seriously look into your various processes including HR, finance, project management and CRM, and re-engineer them based on your future business outlook and strategy. In the current edition we feature eight partners—solution providers, retailers and sub-distributors—who in the past couple of years have worked to re-organize, re-engineer and re-energize their businesses and organizations. This is helping them to counter the slowdown much better than their peers. They are also more future-proofed than the rest of the industry. I have often pointed out to many partners that despite them providing cutting-edge tech solutions to their customers they rarely use the same tech solutions in their own organizations. By contrast, these eight partners have put to good use technologies—ranging from CRM to BI to remote support to toll-free numbers—to enable their businesses and serve their customers better. I hope these eight partners will serve as an inspiration for you to review and revamp your business. Make good use of this slowdown to ensure that you can tackle any future slowdown—with ease. n E-mail CRN Executive Editor Dhaval Valia at dhaval.valia@ubm.com 14

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

Managing Director Printer & Publisher Associate Publisher & Executive Editor Group Commercial Director Contributing Editor Assistant Editor Principal Correspondent Senior Correspondent

: : : : : : : :

Sanjeev Khaira Kailash Pandurang Shirodkar Dhaval Valia Salil Warior Ramdas S Sonal Desai Abhijeet Mukherjee (Mumbai) Amit Singh (Delhi)

Design Art Director Senior Visualiser Senior Graphic Designer Graphic Designer Designer

: : : : :

Deepjyoti Bhowmik Yogesh Naik Shailesh Vaidya Jinal Chheda Sameer Surve

Marketing Advertising Co-ordinator

Jagruti Kudalkar

online Manager—Product Dev. & Mktg. Deputy Manager—Online Web Designer Sr. User Interface Designer

: : : :

Viraj Mehta Nilesh Mungekar Nitin Lahare Aditi Kanade

Operations Head—Finance Director—Operations & Administration

: :

Yogesh Mudras Satyendra Mehra

Sales bangalore Manager—Sales : Sudhir K sudhir.k@ubm.com (M) +91 9740776749 Delhi Senior Project Manager : Sanjay Khandelwal sanjay.khandelwal@ubm.com (M) +91 98117 64515 mumbai Manager—Sales : Ranabir Das ranabir.das@ubm.com (M) +91 9820097606 production Production Manager : Prakash (Sanjay) Adsul Logistics Deputy Manager

Bajrang Shinde

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edit opinion HP one year later Steven Burke

t’s been just more than a year since Meg Whitman was named CEO of HP. Whitman inherited an almost unimaginable mess of a company due in large part to former HP CEO Leo Apotheker and the HP Board of Directors that hired him and then fired him. Whitman has done an admirable job of clearing up the chaos and confusion that Apotheker left after a mere 11 months at the helm. But there is a lot more that needs to be done to get HP back to the channelstrong position it was in before Apotheker messed things up. Now is the time for Whitman to pick up the pace by naming a single top channel chief. That appointment could go a long way toward eliminating internal, internecine political squabbles and getting partners behind one single sales arrow—a single set of incentives with a single story to tell HP customers. HP needs someone who has the ability to call the channel shots across all of the business units, clearing up any confusion in the sales ranks with regard to strategy or conflicts. And HP needs to give that new channel chief the resources and budget to aggressively re-engage the channel with an all-out offensive from sales strategy and execution to marketing and communication. As it stands right now, HP is simply not leveraging to the fullest extent what has always been one of its crown jewels—its robust channel sales force. One of the bright spots for the channel, however, has been the merging of the printing and personal computer units under Printing and Personal Systems Group Executive Vice President Todd Bradley, who remains a strong channel advocate. Hats off to Whitman for keeping top talent like Bradley, who is working to restore HP’s channel momentum. But whether HP wants to admit it or not, it has clearly lost partner mindshare. Key HP partners have taken on new vendor lines such as Oracle or Dell or focused more aggressively on Cisco’s Unified Computing System. What’s more, unlike Cisco and Dell, HP has no clear and compelling cloud computing services channel strategy that fully embraces all partners. The channel at this point is an afterthought as HP builds out its cloud services and solutions business. HP’s current siloed approach has resulted in a channel organization that has failed to deliver deep and longlasting solution incentives that cut across business unit boundaries. It has failed to effectively communicate with partners as well. The siloed approach isn’t working. That single channel sales leader post is critical for both HP’s customers and its partners. n E-mail Steven Burke at steven.burke@ec.ubm.com 16

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

Six services to bet on Your cover story on the six service options was a knowledgeable one with good service ideas picked up by the team; we also believe that the next level of growth can only be achieved through services. Application migration can be a real choice for solution providers catering to SMBs; vendors are also gung-ho about the service. Partners strong in software integration and customization can also count on mobility, which has great scope and margins. Moreover, unified communications is very much in demand, and much of it will be for cloud-based UC. Storage as a service is one of the fastestgrowing services, and for partners with an SMB customer base it is a boon. It definitely works out to be more profitable than selling storage hardware. We appreciate the

efforts made by the CRN team and expect more such ideating articles in future. Satyavir Singh Via email

And the volume channel? I read your cover story on services with a lot of interest. While the article is knowledgeable, all the topics are centered on enterprise partners. We are very keen to get some thought-provoking ideas on the retail segment. What services, products solutions, a reseller or retailer can start, especially those focused on upcountry markets? I request you to carry more stories focused on the volume channel that is ridden with lower margins and higher competition. Pramod Kumar Kumar Enterprise Varanasi

Send your feedback at editor@ubmindia.com or post your views on www.crn.in

Advertiser Index Company name

Page No Web site

Smartlink Smartlink Juniper HP-PSG Compuage-Odyssey Samsung HP-IPG K7 HP-IPG Seagate Dell Emerson Advertorial IBM Interop CDR’s IFSEC RDP eScan Biz Dell Kaspersky

1 www.digisol.com 2 www.digisol.com 4 www.juniper.in 5 www.hp.com/in/notebooks 7 www.compuageindia.com 9 www.samsung.com 11 www.hp.com 13 www.k7computing.com 15 www.hp.com 17 www.seagate.com 19 www.dell.co.in 21-24 emersonnetworkpower.com 29 www.ibm.com 31 www.interop.in 37 www.crn.in/cdrs 39 www.ifsecsouthindia.com 40 41 www.escanav.com 42 www.indiaantivirus.com 43 www.dell.co.in 44 www.kaspersky.co.in

Sales Contact

helpdesk@digisol.com helpdesk@digilite.co.in Priya Sharma 1800 290 3062 in.contact@hp.com odyssey@compuageindia.com toner.helpdesk@samsung.com in.contact@hp.com enterprisesales@k7computing.com in.contact@hp.com www.seagate.com/goflexsatellite dell.co.in/vostro marketing.india@emerson.com ibm.com/integratedsystems/in salil.warior@ubm.com salil.warior@ubm.com pankaj.jain@ubm.com 1800 200 2444 marketing@escanav.com sales@indiaantivirus.com dell.co.in/vostro sales@sakri.in

channel chief “From demand fulfillment to demand creation” Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe, spoke to Dhaval Valia about the changes in the company’s partner-led GTM strategy and future plans It has been over a year since you joined Adobe. Could you list the performance highlights at Adobe India in the past 12 months? It has been a hectic 12 months at Adobe because we have made significant changes to our go-to-market (GTM). Last year, soon after I joined, we had held a partner meet where we opened up our partner program for the first time in India. The second important thing we did was to ask partners present at that meet to help us draft a new channel policy that they would like to have from Adobe. These two elements have been the key focus areas for us in the past 12 months. After opening up the partner program from a select 34 partners, we have expanded our partner base to seven platinum partners, 28 gold partners, 75 certified partners and 150 registered partners. In essence, we have grown our partner engagement by 5-6 times during this period. The opening up of the partner program led to an increase in the addressable opportunity. Several of our platinum and gold partners are today developing new businesses and moving from license-selling to large solutions-driven projects. Some of our platinum and gold partners such as Embee, Comparex, Wipro and Ample have over-achieved their targets in the past two quarters. New partners like Sniper, Value Point, PC Solutions, Software-One, Cartel, Technofirm and Quadra, which joined our partner program recently, have also shown early gains. Overall, we have had 35 percent growth in our dollar revenue in the past 12 months.

What was the reason for opening up the partner program? Adobe is an easy business to do. It literally faces no competition, it’s a pull-brand. I realized that the 34 select partners we had were largely focused on demand fulfillment, not demand creation. Also, a smaller partner network meant that we did not have the necessary coverage. Many customers told us that they wanted to buy Adobe but didn’t know where to buy from, so one of the things we immediately did was set up the online India store to cater to users buying 1-2 licenses. Many large tier-2 systems integrators gave us the feedback that while they would like to enroll as partners

“Adobe is an easy business to do. It faces no competition, it’s a pull brand. The select partners we had were largely focused on demand fulfillment, not demand creation” 18

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our closed-door policy disallowed them. They had customers who were large Adobe consumers, but these partners couldn’t sell Adobe to them. In essence, the reason for opening up was to get our entire partner-led GTM to transition from a demand fulfillment mode to demand creation and market expansion.

Many partners have appreciated your new partner program, the Adobe Partner Connection Program (APCP). The APCP has been drafted ground up by the India team based on the feedback from our partners. Last year, at our partner event, we asked partners to advise on the framework, incentive programs and other policies they would like us to have in order to ensure profitable and sustainable partner growth. Today I am willing to bet my money that it is the best partner program in the industry cutting across hardware and software vendors. A partner can earn back-end incentives up to a maximum of 20 percent on Adobe business in addition to the front-end margins. We have also put the entire partner program in the public domain which has added to its transparency. Our deal registration program offers commissions of 5-15 percent. As a result, our deal registration pipeline has improved multi-fold in the past two quarters. We have added vertical-led incentive programs for education and digital video which can earn partners extra back-end incentives of 5 percent. APCP has now been adopted by our APAC team; they plan to roll it out in other countries after making the necessary regional changes.

What are the internal changes Adobe has made or plans to make in keeping with the new GTM? When I joined Adobe India sales had 40 people; today we are 65. We have a new channel head in Vinit Sood who has crafted the APCP. We have more feet on the field today; in each region we have deployed 2-3 partner managers to handle our expanded channel ecosystem. To lend more focus to the vertical-led business we have appointed three separate teams—for education, enterprise named accounts, and digital video. We have clearly listed out the named accounts—200 Adobe-led and partner supported, and 1,000 that are partner-led. The rest are open to channels. We have beefed up our customer accounts team to manage named accounts. We have also added muscle to our inside sales team which is now 14-member strong. We are working with our distribution partners to support our expanded partner ecosystem. While our

channel chief internal teams will manage the platinum, gold and a few of the certified partners, the rest will be managed by distributors. We are currently working with our two distributors—Ingram and Redington—to increase Adobe resources for on-field and inside sales.

What are the plans for the next 12 months? We have put in place a plan to work closely with our platinum and gold partners whereby we sit with them to create an Adobe-led business plan and then help them to execute the plan. We are focusing on OEM sales in a big way. We have struck a deal with Dell whereby our Creative Suite will be offered as a customizable SKU. A similar partnership is in the offing with HP. We have also been laying emphasis on anti-piracy drives over the past few months.

Adobe has launched cloud services in the US. When do you plan to launch them in India? We expect to launch Adobe Creative Cloud here within the next 6-8 months. Our entire DTP portfolio under the Creative Suite, plus a host of additional tools and services including Lightroom 4, Adobe Acrobat and the Adobe Touch Apps, will be offered on the cloud. The maximum offering, if bought as a license, costs $2,500, but on the cloud will be available at a monthly subscription of $49 per user. It comes with 20 GB cloud storage for syncing, storing and sharing. For customers, the cloud offering breaks down the barriers to publishing their content. They can publish their Websites using the Adobe Business Catalyst hosting service, and with our Digital Publishing suite they can deliver digital publications to tablets.

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“I am willing to bet my money that our Adobe Partner Connection Program is the best partner program in the industry cutting across hardware and software vendors” Adobe has been on an acquisition spree, and most of your acquisitions in the past 2-3 years have been on the digital marketing front. That signals a strategic shift for Adobe. It does. All along we have been a digital content creation and publishing company with tools such as Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere and Acrobat which helped people to create digital content and publish it digitally. With the string of acquisitions we have moved into a space which is a logical extension of our digital media business—that of managing and monetizing the digital content. Omniture is the best in Web analytics, Day Soft offers CMS, Demdex is an audience optimization solution. Most of our customers who create content using our tools are looking for ways to publish and manage content on various media and devices, and then eventually monetize it.

What role do you see for IT channels here? For the digital marketing portfolio our GTM is largely focused on working with companies that provide digital marketing solutions. The audience for our digital marketing portfolio is the CMO and not the CIO. In that sense, the IT channel has a limited role to play. However, we will look at working with some leading IT partners who want to offer digital marketing solutions. n

Partners making critical difference

ndia’s six leading systems integrators were honored with the Critical Difference Partner 2012 awards at the CRN Leadership Summit. Instituted jointly by CRN and Emerson Network Power, the Critical Difference Partner Awards aim to recognize and honor systems integrators who excel at providing end-to-end data center solutions, that include not just the core compute and network infrastructure but also the design and integration of power and cooling solutions, and the lifecycle management services. The winners are listed in the alphabetical order and not in the order of importance: Allied Digital Services: For the project that involved remodelling of HDFC Standard Life’s existing data center into a private cloud and migrating existing applications to the cloud. Ashtech Infotech: For the project at Adani Group in Ahmedabad that involved the re-architecture and relocation of existing tier-1 data center to tier-3. Choice Solutions: For the project at NABARD, Mumbai, where the system integrator consolidated and virtualized the existing server and storage infrastructure into a 700 sq ft data center deploying energy savings and management as per Uptime Institute matrix. Compton Business Solutions: For the 3,000 sq ft tier-3 data center at Century Communication its post-production facility in Chennai. Network Techlab: For the new tier-3

data center at Just Dial, Mumbai, to manage the customer’s growing business. Pentagon Systems and Services: For a turnkey tier-3 data center project for a leading financial institution (name withheld due to NDA). The data center solution had complex and hybrid power and cooling requirements, and also involved integrating legacy and technologies from different vendors. “With consolidation, virtualization and concepts like private cloud taking center stage, data center design and technology is witnessing paradigm shift. As a result, the role of the partner in providing end-to-end data center solution from design to integration has become the key. Hence, we decided to institute this award along with CRN,” said Ankesh Kumar, Director, Channel Products & Marketing, Emerson. The winners of the Critical Difference Partner Awards 2012 were decided based on an open nomination process, where system integrators were invited to nominate their best data center project in the past 12-18 months. CRN received several nominations, which were shortlisted to 15 by the CRN editorial team and referred to a jury consisting of industry experts. The jury consisted of Mandar Marulkar, Associate VP, Head IT and CISO, KPIT Cummins; Anwer Bagdadi, Founder & CEO, Kashif Technology & Innovation; and the late Pratik Chube, General Manager, Product Development & Marketing, Emerson Network Power. u

JURY PANEL

Mandar Marulkar. Associate VP, Head IT and CISO, KPIT Cummins

Anwer Bagdadi. Founder & CEO, Kashif Technology & Innovation

Pratik Chube. General Manager, Product Development & Marketing, Emerson Network Power

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Allied Digital Services

Ashtech Infotech

Nehal Shah, GM, Allied Digital, receiving the award from Ankesh Kumar, Director, Channel Products & Marketing, Emerson

B Shankar, Director, Ashtech Infotech, receiving the award from Ankesh Kumar, Director, Channel Products & Marketing, Emerson

n FY2011-12 Mumbai-based Allied Digital Services clocked revenue of `600 crore of which DC solutions and services contributed `108 crore. The company executed 28 DC projects in the last fiscal—24 tier-2 DCs, three tier-3 DCs and one tier-1 DC. A vast majority of the DCs, 24, were 500-1,500 sq ft in size, while the remaining were smaller than 500 sq ft. The company’s winning project was for HDFC Standard Life which involved the optimization of the existing DC space and the reduction of the cooling and power consumption requirements. Said Nitin Shah, CMD, Allied Digital, “The customer was keen to move to a private cloud and wanted to first optimize its current infrastructure before investing in new infrastructure. For this they signed us up, and our brief included studying the existing infrastructure, identifying applications and servers that could be consolidated, and helping the company to create a detailed implementation plan for a private cloud.” The entire project took four months to complete. Since the project was for remodeling the existing DC, no new procurement or deployment of UPS or batteries was envisaged. Existing racks from President were replaced with Emerson Knur racks to further reduce cooling requirements. Existing monitoring devices were reused in order to provide investment protection to the customer. Allied’s in-house developed integrated service delivery framework was deployed to monitor and manage the transformed infrastructure. Along with this, native tools from VMware were used to manage the virtual environment. Through this optimization Allied achieved a 15:1 consolidation ratio and a total cost savings of 22 percent—14 percent savings in power requirements; 18 percent reduction in cooling requirements; and 20 percent savings with the raised floor footprint. Allied also ensured the migration of business critical applications with zero downtime.u

umbai-based Ashtech Infotech, which recorded a turnover of `58 crore in FY2011-12, garnered `10 crore from DC solutions. It executed four large DC projects during the last fiscal with three tier-2 and one tier-3 DCs. Of these, three DCs were smaller than 500 sq ft and one project was for a DC of 1,000 sq ft. The winning project for Ashtech was the DC built for the Adani Group in Ahmedabad. “We won this project from Adani after their stringent evaluation of the bidders which included some very large SIs. We had to build a DC which not only met their current needs but also their requirements for the next five years,” informed B Shankar, Director, Ashtech. Consideration of the design parameters began with the selection of the DC’s location where Ashtech assessed risk factors such as the structural strength of the building and its load-bearing capacity. All environmental protections were looked at including water-proofing, protection from lightning, and pest control systems. The second line of design parameters were fire protection and safety. Power being the raw material and cooling being the most expensive item for any DC, its design demanded careful study and analysis of rack placement, equipment distribution, power consumption, heat dissipation and all allied parameters. Ashtech provided a redundant N+1 UPS, auto failover DC set, and two independent power lines to individual racks. It also provided 3-tier access control, IP surveillance, water leak detection, a rodent repellent system, a fire suppression system, and aspirating smoke detection and conventional smoke detection systems. “Cabling becomes a major sprawl if not designed well,” pointed out Shankar. “We used a high-density pre-terminated MPO solution for fiber connectivity and an MRJ solution for copper connectivity. This provided distinct advantages such as high-density, modular design, minimized downtime and faster deployment time.” u

JURY’S VERDICT

“The project for HDFC Life has shown good ROI for the customer by improving power, cooling and availability. It demonstrates Allied’s depth of skills in providing DC solutions”

“The project demonstrates Ashtech’s understanding of customer needs. Building scalability and manageability in the project were among the noteworthy aspects”

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Choice Solutions

Compton Business Solutions

KV Jagannath, MD, Choice Solutions, receiving the award from Dhaval Valia, Associate Publisher and Executive Editor, CRN

Sandeep Vahi, Director, Compton Business Solutions, received the award for data center deployed at Century Communication

f the `92 crore topline recorded by Hyderabad-based Choice Solutions in FY2011-12, the DC build business contributed 15 percent. The company executed eight end-to-end DC projects during the fiscal— two tier-1, five tier-2, and one tier-3. Of these, six DCs were smaller than 500 sq ft while two were of 500-1,500 sq ft sizes. The winning project for Choice was executed for NABARD, which had been supporting its services and network in a tier-1 environment at its headquarters in Mumbai. To support its new IT initiatives there was a need to increase its computing power several-fold and also to increase its resilience. A 700 sq ft space was identified for the new DC by consolidating the existing server space and its adjoining area. “NABARD’s first condition was that the new DC had to be built and operationalized within 75 days of order confirmation which many bidders found difficult to meet. We won the project and also successfully met this requirement,” informed KV Jagannath, MD, Choice Solutions. Choice designed a 2N solution as per the Uptime Institute’s tier-3 topology from the power-tapping point onward. “NABARD is a green organization with most of its facilities being BEE-certified. The headquarters building meets the BEE Four Star rating. Considering this, we had to offer a PUE rating that was the industry best. We designed the solution with a planned PUE of 1.59 at maximum IT load, which is well below the average DC PUE range of 1.8-1.89 identified by the Uptime Institute in 2011,” said Jagannath. A BMS system was deployed for monitoring the DC infrastructure including UPS, precision air-conditioners, fire protection systems and security systems. Choice is providing an onsite 24/7 operations and management service for the DC. It is also required to provide six years warranty/AMC support. u

elhi-based Compton Business Solutions, which recorded a turnover of `88 crore in FY2011-12, garnered `17 crore from providing end-to-end data center (DC) solutions and services. The company implemented seven large DC projects—four tier-2 and three tier-3. Compton’s winning end-to-end greenfield DC project was for Century Communications Limited (CCL), a media and entertainment company with interest in VFX and animation. The 3,000 sq ft DC was for CCL’s new 50,000 sq ft postproduction studio in Chennai set up for offshore film postproduction projects. The DC project included complete DC design and integration with 300 blade servers and 250 highend graphics workstations; an intelligent cabling solution; a networking backbone; storage, mail and security servers; and IP-based remote monitoring. The entire project was completed in six months. “The customer first had the impression of needing two DC rooms. We suggested going in for a chassis server which comprises 16 blade servers in one single chassis. The rack number was thus reduced to three (four chassis servers each) and was implemented in half the area. We also implemented a HNAS solution comprising 210 HDDs each of 300 GB with clustering support having failover and recovery options,” informs Sandeep Vahi, Director, Compton. According to Vahi, the solution helped CCL to reduce its compute infrastructure power consumption from 169 KW to just 45 KW. “In addition, our precision AC solution helped achieve a PAC TR of 14.76 against the 56.33 of a conventional solution.” While the cooling and UPS used were from Emerson, the racks were from President. Compton also deployed the advanced very early warning aspirating smoke detection system with continuous air sampling. The entire infrastructure was housed in a secure environment with biometric scanning, smart-card access and IP surveillance. Compton also created an NOC for remote monitoring of the DC. u

JURY’S VERDICT

“A comprehensive DC project with a strong ROI generated from driving low PUE. The project highlights Choice’s deep understanding of power and cooling solutions”

“The project demonstrates Compton’s solutions capabilities in building large HPC-led DCs. The energy and space savings, along with the high availability, are notable features of this DC”

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Network Techlab

Pentagon System and Services

Sanjeet Shah, Director, Network Techlab, receiving the award from Ankesh Kumar, Director, Channel Products & Marketing, Emerson

Sairaman Mudaliar, Director, Pentagon, receiving the award from Ankesh Kumar, Director, Channel Products & Marketing, Emerson

umbai-based Network Techlab, which recorded a turnover of `50 crore in FY2011-12, saw nearly 10 percent of its revenue coming from DC solutions including active compute infrastructure, passive power solutions, cooling solutions and other electrical solutions. The company executed 10 DC projects during the last fiscal. Eight of these DCs were server room solutions for SMB customers, while two were tier-3 DCs above 500 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft in size respectively. Network Techlab’s winning DC project was for Just Dial, a search and directory services company based out of Mumbai. A tier-3 800 sq ft DC, it was implemented in a four month period during which the entire scoping, specing and deployment was done. The company’s deep understanding of mission critical DCs, and the five 9s—99.999 percent for uptime and reliability for business critical continuity solutions helped it to bag the project. “For Just Dial, our mandate was to provide the entire design and deployment which included server, storage, networks, cooling, power and fire safety, plus civil works and interiors,” informed Atul Gosar, Chief Executive Officer, Network Techlab. The initial requirement was for 21 racks with loads of 5 KVA per 12 racks, 3 KVA per six racks, and 2 KVA per three racks; this is upgradable to 28 racks with the additional seven racks of 10 KVA load per rack. Informed Gosar, “The DC has been built with no single point of failure. We also deployed precision AC with a digital scroll for energy savings. The precision AC modulates cooling capacity based on the load and heat, and thus reduces input power with capacity modulation from 10 percent to 100 percent.” Part of the solution was also providing a building management system from Honeywell for monitoring the UPS, cooling, DG and other DC equipment across Just Dial’s seven regional branches. u

umbai-based Pentagon System and Services, which recorded a turnover of `131 crore in FY2011-12, executed five large DC projects which brought in business of `11 crore. It executed two tier-3, two tier-2 and one tier-1 DCs. Of these, two were less than 500 sq ft in size, two were 500-1,500 sq ft, and one was a 7,000 sq ft DC for one of India’s leading financial institutions which won Pentagon the Emerson Critical Difference Partner Award 2012. The BFSI customer wanted a 7,000 sq ft DC at its premises in Mumbai to handle extremely critical transactions with no time-lag. Any loss of data would culminate in huge losses for the institution as well as for its customers; the DC therefore needed high availability along with the capability to handle high-density loads. At the same time, the DC had to be provisioned for future expansion over the next 8-10 years. “The DC was required to run critical applications [continuously because] downtime had huge cost implications. Since it had extensive blade deployment and virtualization, the rack load density was too high for ordinary precision cooling to handle,” informed Sairaman Mudaliar, Director, Pentagon. “Keeping this in mind, we had to design a DC where efficiency had to be extremely high and PUE very low. The DC was so large that the initial load was almost 500 KVA. Since the data was very important, the emphasis on physical security was also high.” The DC solution provided by Pentagon included servers, storage, UPS, cooling, racks, an integrated building management system and a datacenter infrastructure monitoring system. Pentagon brought in some innovation in the design such as using a low footprint UPS keeping the PUE in mind. It also introduced variable frequency chillers to improve the DC’s efficiency. u

JURY’S VERDICT

“An end-to-end solution with a focus energy efficiency and TCO by providing management layer and services capabilities. Network Techlab’s skills in DC solutions are good”

“A DC solution had complex requirements for power, hybrid cooling solution, and an integrated BMS. The integration of legacy and new technologies from different vendors was impressive”

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cover story

Eight partners share their plans to sustain high growth rates in the current economic slowdown n crn network

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cover story Compton Computers

Computer Gallery

Tying up loose ends

elhi-based Compton Computers has grown significantly in the current fiscal despite customers delaying server, storage and data center projects. It has grossed about `46 crore so far, and targets around `100 crore by the end of FY2012-13. To counter the deficit from infrastructure projects, Compton has added new offerings such as software customization and back-up Sandeep Vahi as a service (BaaS). The company identified workflow and document management as a pain area for customers, specially SMBs. Says Sandeep Vahi, Director, Compton, “We bagged three workflow management projects of `1 crore-1.5 crore each for three insurance companies, and seven document management projects of an average `75 lakh in the education segment. We are integrating workflow and document management on platforms such as Sharepoint and Karomi.” The company has an 18-person application development team, and is planning to add 14 people this year. Compton bagged a university management system and IT infrastructure project worth `10 crore from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. In BaaS, it has invested `1.5 crore in a data center last year, and added 200 customers in the current fiscal. Compton offered a unique solution for IP surveillance by providing a central storage for networks of ATMs. Vahi explains, “With this, customers can get rid of individual DVRs for every ATM and save on resources and monitors.” The company won two major projects worth `1.2 crore and `2 crore from HDFC Bank and the Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank for 300 and 500 ATMs respectively. On the best practices front, Compton formed a team of 10 project management specialists and invested `5 lakh in project management tools from Smartsheet and Mind Tools. Vahi explains why. “Project mismanagement was causing cost overruns for us. With these tools we brought down project management and execution costs, and completed projects before deadline.” In addition, says Vahi, “We made travel management software on Dot Net to effectively manage our travel plans and saved 8-9 percent on travel costs. We also provided mobiles with GPS services to save time.” n

Strategies for Growth Compton focused on software customization and bagged 10 projects to integrate workflow and document management on platforms like Sharepoint and Karomi. The company invested `1.5 crore in a data center and added 200 SMB customers with 8-20 nodes for storage as a service. It formed a team of project management specialists and invested `5 lakh in project management tools to bring down its project management and execution costs.

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Strict financial discipline

ndore-based Computer Gallery is facing the brunt of the slowdown as they have started facing payment delays from tier-3 partners. “Our distribution business is growing at 20 percent, but we are fighting hard to prevent stockpiling,” says Sudhir Arora, Director, Computer Gallery. Sudhir Arora The company has therefore taken strict steps to implement financial discipline within the organization. “We have strictly implemented the 30-day payment cycle now because there is stiff competition as well as vendor pressure to meet targets and pay back on time,” says Arora. Computer Gallery has also become strict in terms of inventory management, and does not pile up stock for more than four weeks. It also does not force partners to buy more stock than what they require. Remarks Arora, “We ensure that partners buy stocks only if there is a standing order with them, and that they are not doing it just to meet a vendor’s target. This has streamlined our business and contributed around 7 percent to our revenue.” The company is making optimal utilization of resources. “We are optimally utilizing human resources and understanding their capabilities before assigning them additional tasks,” quips Arora. The company is also cutting down on the travel costs of sales executives. “Instead of flights we are insisting they travel by trains, and instead of office cars use taxis. Such activities have saved `10 lakh annually on our costs,” he informs. In addition to focused promotional activities like advertising through the regional media, the company is also encouraging partners to sell more and incentivizing them. “For example, for a sale of `5 lakh, we give them a free TFT. We try to give our partners in kind 0.75 percent to 1 percent of our profit,” says Arora. To encourage employee loyalty and improve their performance, Computer Gallery is providing senior employees zero percent finance for a flat and two vehicles. n

Strategies for Growth Computer Gallery has strictly implemented the 30-day payment cycle to beat stiff competition and pay vendors on time. The company has emphasized cost cutting and is insisting that its staff travel by train rather than take a flight. It is also encouraging partners to sell more, and is incentivizing them. For example, for a sale of Rs 5 lakh, it gives them a free TFT.

cover story Cyberland Technologies

Geographical expansion

ochi-based networking specialist Cyberland Technologies is banking on its expansion plans in Sri Lanka and its focus on verticals that are expected to withstand recessionary trends. Though Cyberland has grown more than 15 percent during H1FY2012-13, the management is wary of a potential Madhav slowdown. “Kerala, where the majority of Chandran R our business comes from, was cocooned from previous slowdowns. But I believe things are changing, and that’s worrisome,” says Madhav Chandran R, MD, Cyberland Technologies. Chandran is betting on the company’s operations in Sri Lanka in association with Dax Networks; called Dax Lanka, the entity was launched earlier in FY2011-12. “The Lankan market is opening up, and investments are flowing in. Presently it’s just Cisco and us which are having our own operations and support center. We already have some orders trickling in from the telecom and infrastructure markets, and this year about 15 percent of our business may come from Lanka.” Chandra feels that it is better to bet on verticals which are likely to do well despite economic challenges. One such segment is gold jewelry and the micro-finance institutions which provide gold loans. Over the past six months Cyberland has already bagged three projects from this segment, the biggest being worth `2.3 crore. Another segment that Cyberland is betting on is travel and tourism. According to Chandran, “Kerala being a tourist hub there is continuous investment in the hospitality industry. Many are implementing wireless LANs, and upgrading existing infrastructure.” Chandran is also targeting the logistics industry as there are expectations that many players in the logistics business will set up shop as Kochi gets a new container terminal. In addition, Cyberland has ventured into surveillance projects and has started to directly import IP surveillance cameras from China. “Security and surveillance will remain a concern whatever happens,” says Chandran. n

Strategies for Growth Cyberland plans to focus on markets that are likely to withstand recessionary trends in Kerala such as gold, tourism and microfinance which could account for 60 percent of its business this year. The company will focus on building the business of its new entity in Sri Lanka which could account 15-25 percent growth. It has added physical surveillance solutions to its portfolio following a tie-up with a China-based OEM.

Dev IT

De-risking from govt

hmedabad-based Dev IT’s stickiness to the government has enabled the software solution provider to sail through the first half of 2012. But H2 could be slow, cautions Pranav Pandya, Director, Dev IT. He acknowledges that the government—which contributes 70 Pranav Pandya percent of its revenue—will curb spending on the IT sector in H22012. Because of the coming assembly and general elections, the government is increasing spending on education, health and social welfare. “The IT projects which were scheduled to be completed in five years have been extended to seven years,” he says. Dev is working with two senior consultants for large system integration projects in the BFSI and healthcare segments. These professionals are an integral part of the pre-sales meets with the customers, and offer functional knowledge to the team throughout the project. The company is also partnering with national SIs. Says Pandya, “We will continue to extend implementation and support expertise to national SIs. Since the pie from the government will reduce, I am going to pressurize my teams to get 10 percent extra revenue from the private sector.” Dev is expanding its presence in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Goa and Maharashtra, and will get more aggressive in overseas markets like Canada, US, UK and the Middle East. The company will leverage its existing infrastructure to offer cloud-based ERP and IaaS on Microsoft Lync, the company’s UC platform. “We are offering the services to some of our existing customers. If all goes well, we will provide the cloud solutions to utility service providers. We have obtained the ISO 9001:2000 certification for the software application development lifecycle, and have also applied for CMMi 3 certification for SLAs and service delivery,” Pandya informs. To lower operational costs, the company is recruiting freshers at the L1 and L2 level and investing in their training and certification. n

Strategies for Growth Dev has made it mandatory for its sales team to pitch the solution to the end customer based on the inputs from its marketing team, and has asked them to refrain from fluff and promises. The company is recruiting freshers at the L1 and L2 level, and investing in their training. It has obtained the ISO 9001:2000 certification for the software application development lifecycle, and applied for CMMi 3 certification for SLAs and service delivery.

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cover story Futurenet Technologies

Lalani Infotech

The future begins now

hennai-based Futurenet Technologies is reaping the fruits of the efforts it initiated in 2011 to tackle the slowdown. “The product business is growing at 50 percent and the services business at 20 percent. The product business contributed 20 percent and the services business 12 percent to our overall revenue in H12011,” says L Ashok, MD, Futurenet Technologies. L Ashok The company reorganized its teams and has added offerings on the cloud, focused on open source and VDI. As a result of the reorganization, Futurenet’s new customer acquisition has increased by 35 percent in H12012 over 15 percent in 2011. Informs Ashok, “We moved some technical resources into the sales division in mid-2011 and trained them. These techno-commercial executives are now spearheading our pre-sales and sales activities. The change helped us transition to consultancy as the executives are discussing solutions with CIOs.” However, all is not hunky-dory, and Ashok is worried about delayed payment cycles and the extended credit. “The slowdown is impacting the payment cycles. As a policy, we collect payments in 30-40 days, but customers are now holding it back till 60-70 days. The margins are shrinking and people are desperate.” To counter this, Futurenet is talking to finance companies to provide easy options to customers. “We are also talking to vendors to extend the credit for some customers,” Ashok adds. Although the company has been providing cloud services to customers, it carved out a separate business unit in August 2012 and launched white- label service, TechOnCloud, for SMB customers. TechOnCloud will initially focus on messaging, back-up and DR on demand. The company has tied up with American Megatrends India for its storage and back-up solutions. “We are hosting 10,000 users from 100 organizations for email, and have two customers for DR on demand,” Ashok informs. Internally, Futurenet is deploying an open source CRM. Says Ashok, “We did not have a CRM earlier. We started deploying the CRM about five months back.” He is confident that Futurenet will close the fiscal with a 45 percent growth over FY2011-12. n

Strategies for Growth Futurenet moved technical resources to the sales division. This increased new customer acquisition by 35 percent because of the techno-commercial approach. During customer meetings, the team dissects the customer’s finances; it discusses payment stages (including the credit cycle) at the time of signing the contract. Technologically, it increased its focus on VDI, UC and the cloud. It carved out a separate business unit for the cloud, and launched its first service, TechOnCloud, in August.

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Avoiding the rat race

olkata-based Lalani Infotech recently opened a 3-storey retail store comprising 13,000 sq ft of space; it expects to touch revenue of `100 crore from the store in FY2012-13. But it is also facing its share of challenges during the slowdown. “In the current economic scenario Umang Lalani I foresee a gap of 30 percent in revenue compared to our earlier expectations. Still, keeping an optimistic mindset, I would expect revenue of `40 crore in the October-March period only from our retail business,” says Umang Lalani, Director, Lalani Infotech. To minimize the impact of the downturn Lalani has followed a strict inventory management system. “We are not keeping more than seven days of inventory. We ensure that we provide a good range of products with good availability and affordable pricing so that more customers buy from us, thus reducing inventory pile up,” Lalani explains. To avoid the rat race Lalani has stuck to fixed pricing. “We have no plans to compromise on price unlike many other retailers who disturb the MOP by price undercutting. In this way we have ensured that consumers do not get any opportunity to negotiate on the price,” Lalani says. Even then, the company has made around 20,000 new retail customers since the opening the store 40 days ago. The company has engaged the Bengaluru-based Capillary—one of the leaders in providing nextgeneration customer engagement solutions—to provide enhanced customer engagement experience at the store. Good post-sales support is another thing Lalani is looking at; it therefore provides internal training every seven days for its post-sales support team. Lalani has plans to opening eight more stores by 2014 in West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh where it has its distribution network, while by 2015 it wants to take this number to 25 and open stores in states where it has no presence so far. n

Strategies for Growth Due to slow movement in the retail space Lalani is not keeping more than seven days of inventory. The company is focusing on online ads through Google and Facebook and targeting the right product through the right Website. It has engaged the Bengaluru-based Capillary—one of the leaders in providing next-generation customer engagement solutions—to provide an enhanced customer engagement experience at the new store.

cover story Secant Technologies

Veeras Infotek

Ready to face anything

“T

hese are testing times, and only the fittest will survive, so we are gearing up to face any difficulty that may come our way,” says Paramjit Singh Juneja, CEO, Secant Tech InfoSolutions, which is based in Ludhiana. To counter the challenges Secant has increased its focus on the student community. Juneja explains, “Students are the only Paramjit Singh target audience that is not impacted by the slowdown. We have launched a lot of schemes with the help of HP.” With Apple, Secant is approaching colleges to create awareness about Mac systems and their relevance to the student community. “This has worked in our favor because our sales grew by 12 percent,” Juneja informs. “We are conducting regular seminars in colleges to interact with students and convince them that we understand their needs. We also did an increased number of canopy activities in colleges from once in a quarter to one per month now.” The current mood among consumers is negative, and they are holding back their purchasing. To help them buy on easy payment terms, Secant has tied up with banks to help consumers buy IT products on EMIs. It has also taken the support of HP to sell at zero percent interest credit. “This is helping us in terms of increased footfalls. Wordof-mouth by our existing customers has also brought in a lot of new customers,” Juneja says. Secant has gone aggressive in its marketing, and has banked on new ideas to lure consumers. “We are offering them a choice of good back-packs,” informs Juneja. The company is also bundling Sennheiser headphones and an HP mouse-and-laptop cleaning kit as an added attraction. Juneja reveals that the company has drastically reduced its inventory to just 20 days of stock from the earlier four weeks. Secant is using its CRM to save on cost and time, and also to solve customer grievances and store information. The company’s latest offering, remote repairs, is finding many takers. “We expect to grow from `20 crore in FY2011-12 to `25 crore in FY2012-13,” adds Juneja. n

Strategies for Growth Secant has increased its focus on students and conducted more canopy activities as well as seminars in colleges and universities. It has tied up with banks to help consumers buy IT products on EMIs. With HP it is offering a zero percent interest credit scheme for its customers; this has helped it to attract footfalls. The company is bundling Sennheiser headphones and a mouse-and-laptop cleaning kit to attract students.

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FM, EM to drive growth

hennai-based SI Veeras Infotek has admitted that the slowdown is impacting everybody. “Our major customers, who are in the auto and IT/ITeS segments, have put their investments on hold. MNCs are looking at global or national SIs,” says Sudarsan Sudarsan Ranganathan, CEO & MD. Ranganathan Veeras is focusing on its solution business, deep-selling, VDI. “Our run-rate business— including Microsoft licensing, HP and Acer—has seen a de-growth of about 38 percent,” he informs. “But our solution business—including virtualization, consolidation and security has grown more than 100 percent. Focus on solutions has increased profits by 25 percent.” Besides SharePoint and SCCM projects, Veeras is helping customers to upgrade ADS from Windows 2003 to 2008, and email from third-party software to Exchange. The company has signed contracts with two of its existing customers for end-to-end solutions on Microsoft in deals worth `17 lakh. The company is also banking on server and desktop virtualization. It has deployed two VDI projects with Verizon and HCL—for 2,000 users. Veeras is managing 1,40,000 end-points for security, and more than 2,500 virtual servers for large customers. Starting FY2012-13, Veeras has added three new specializations—financial analytics (FA); fraud management (FM) and audit into business analytics; and enterprise mobility (EM)—to its portfolio. “We have signed up with Canada-based ACL for FM, and with Samsung for EM. The inclusion of FM and FA has given us access to the CFOs,” says Ranganathan. For mobility Veeras has already carved out a separate division and moved eight people to it. “We will hire a senior executive to head the team, and are also scouting for application developers,” he reveals. “Currently we are integrating the applications developed by software companies on smartphones and tablets, and running pilots in education institutions. We are banking big on the education vertical for iPads, and on the enterprise segment for Windows-based infrastructure.” n

Strategies for Growth Veeras is heavily into deep-selling. The company exited the volume business to focus on solutions. It is extending financial analytics, exception management and fraud detection to business analytics. For a CIO-level engagement it is training its existing sales force in account management, solutions and consultancy. The company is looking at mobility solutions including MDM, device integration and apps development. It has carved out a new division for this purpose.

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role model Old values new technologies Rajesh Kalra, MD & CEO, Sterling Infoways, has built a successful company by following old-world business values n AMIT SINGH

ajesh Kalra, MD & CEO, Sterling Infoways, feels that his journey so far in the IT industry is like a tryst with destiny. “Coming from a non-IT background, and that too from a service-class family, starting an IT business was a gamble. But I was destined to be a part of the IT industry. In one word, I would describe my journey as ‘fruitful’ as I was able to gain knowledge and build some good relationships over the years.” Kalra always wanted to be on his own. “After graduation, a friend pulled me into the IT industry, and I have never looked back.” He started business as an IT reseller with `50,000 borrowed from his parents. Now a `69 crore entity, Sterling is among the top integration and sub-distribution companies in the country. Headquartered in Gurgaon, the company has branches in Delhi, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Mumbai.

The beginning After completing his BCom from the Delhi College of Arts & Commerce in 1993, Kalra started an IT peripherals reselling business under the name of Radiance Enterprises. “I signed up with HP and Panasonic for printers and with Digital for PCs. We also sold presentation equipment from Godrej. Back then we were selling whatever reached the market, but we soon realized that we needed a strategy to survive longer, and moved toward systems integration. We hired skilled resources and developed specific competencies around PC solutions, servers and storage. We also changed the name of the company to Sterling Infoways,” he recalls. Sterling partnered with IBM for PCs, servers and storage in 1998, and became one of the major IBM partners within a year. Customers were also getting selective about their IT purchases, and moving from consumer-grade PCs to enterprise-level PCs, servers and storage. “The IBM partnership enabled us to double our revenue from `7 crore in FY1997-98 to `14 crore in FY1999-2000,” Kalra says. Having tasted success in systems integration, the

“We believe in a single-vendor policy, and do not sign up with competing vendors. This has helped us to get increased support from the vendors” 32

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company entered networking in 2002. “Initially we outsourced the networking component of our systems integration business to other partners, but I used to send my team to overlook those projects. The team gradually gained expertise in networking, and we started signing for independent networking projects as well,” informs Kalra. In 2003 Sterling implemented a major networking project worth `60 lakh for Bausch & Lomb and Luxottica. The company then expanded its portfolio to include power conditioning. “We included both UPS and power cable implementation. However, we had to drop the power cable from our portfolio as it was not our cup of tea,” says Kalra. Sterling signed on with APC in 2006 to fortify its commercial UPS portfolio. During 2003-08 Sterling executed several IT infrastructure and networking projects for a major food chain across the country. “We implemented a data center and networking for the head office, as well as PCs, servers, storage and networking at its food outlets. We made an average of `5 crore per annum during the period,” he discloses. The company implemented several IT infrastructure and networking projects for JP Power and JP Engineering College in Himachal Pradesh during 2005-2007. It also implemented a voice network for 5,000 users of GE Capital in 2006-07. Says Kalra, “We worked on several projects with national SIs such as Wipro, Tata Elxsi, CMC and CMS during 2002-07. Our implementation revenue from such projects ranged from `3 crore to `5 crore per annum.” In 2007 the company entered the sub-distribution of PC accessories with an investment of `1.5 crore. “We extended our partnership with Lenovo and became a distributor for Lenovo accessories and service packs,” Kalra informs. “Accessories was a fast-moving business back then, but was less explored. It actually complemented our systems integration business as we were able to manage cash-flow effectively.” The company appointed four people for subdistribution and maintained it as a separate division; the sub-distribution business contributed `7 crore in FY2007-08. From 2007 to 2009 Sterling broadened its portfolio and partnered with Microsoft, Xerox, Canon, WatchGuard and VMware for systems integration. “By

Role model 1998

Partnered with IBM; entered systems integration

2003

MILESTONES

Forayed into networking; completed networking project for Bausch & Lomb and Luxottica.

2006

partnering with VMware in 2008 we stepped into virtualization and executed several projects of an average size of `1 crore.” Sterling partnered with Tata Telecom, Reliance Communications and Aircel to extend data services such as leased lines, MPLS and IPLC to meet the bandwidth requirements of customers. “My wife Dimple joined the business in 2008 and has been leading our telecom division since then,” informs Kalra.

Included UPS and power conditioning in portfolio; partnered with APC

productivity of employees,” explains Kalra. The company has maintained vendor loyalty, and has engaged with only a single vendor for any particular product line. Declares Kalra, “We believe in a singlevendor policy, and do not sign up with competing vendors with similar product lines. This has helped us to get increased support from the vendors.”

Future plans

Kalra feels that the IT market is becoming highly competitive. “Margins are going down, Sterling increased its revenue from Ventured into PC accessories customers are holding back `58.86 crore in FY2010-11 to `69 distribution; established investments, vendors are going crore in FY2011-12. e-commerce platform direct, and sales force retention is While the sub-distribution and becoming tough. We are therefore systems integration businesses Stepped into virtualization; diversifying into other fields, but contributed almost equally in the partnered with VMware in a phased manner. Next on our last fiscal, PCs and peripherals agenda is the cloud.” were the highest grossers with 40 Clocked annual turnover of Kalra remarks that the next percent. According to Kalra, “In `69 crore phase of IT will be the opex model, the systems integration business, which means that investment in IT servers contributed 20 percent, Entered cloud business; infrastructure will not go beyond storage and networking 10 percent bagged three large customers a certain point. “Cloud computing each, virtualization and security will play a vital role in the 5 percent each, and services 10 customer’s IT decision-making.” percent.” The company recently partnered with TCS iON The company leveraged its e-commerce Website for and NIIT for the cloud, and has already acquired three selling IBM and Lenovo service packs and accessories customers. to customers. “In 2007 we established thinkessentials. Sterling is targeting revenue of `85 crore in FY2012com for offering service packs and accessories online, 13. “We expect a major contribution from our systems and in 2009 we formed targusonline.com for Targus integration and sub-distribution businesses; e-commerce accessories,” Kalra adds. platforms and the cloud will also add to our growth,” Kalra says that the company is focused on deepsays Kalra, adding, “We expect about 15 percent selling to its existing accounts in manufacturing, contribution from e-commerce in the next fiscal with the automobile and IT/ITeS. “We leveraged our clients who addition of two more platforms in the next six months.” have grown with us since we started out, and have The company has plans to establish branches in witnessed the development of Gurgaon as a corporate Pune and Chennai during the OND quarter. It will and industrial hub.” also increase its focus on conference room solutions Sterling’s strategy has been to focus on retaining by the end of the fiscal, and is in talks with Lifesize customers rather than adding new ones. “Holding on Communications and Smart Technologies. to the old customers has always been our strategy. That is why referrals have always acted as a major force for new customer acquisitions.” On a personal note Kalra considers JRD Tata as his role model and says that the Tata Group is known for its ethical practices. Best practices “The company has not only grown itself but also helped In 2009 Sterling implemented SAP to monitor all India to grow through its corporate social responsibility its processes. “It provides us a bird’s-eye view of activities.” financials, projects, customer management and the Kalra has been a lawn tennis player and a gym enthusiast since his college days, and still visits the “We expect about 15 percent contribution gym at least twice a week. He likes to spend time with his family watching TV or playing games on from e-commerce in the next fiscal with his X-Box. the addition of two more platforms in the He also loves beach holidays with his family in Phuket, Thailand, and has been there 6-7 times. n next six months”

2012

2011

2008

2007

Current business

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tech focus

Intel’s mobility push Mobile devices ranging from smartphones to ultrabooks were on tap at the recently concluded Intel Developer Forum 2012. Here are 10 Intel-powered gadgets that stuck out from the crowd n Kristin Bent

ntel may already be a staple in the traditional PC arena, but the chip giant is now vying for a share of the mobility market as well, hoping its low-power Atom and Core processors can go head to head against ARM. That message rang loud and clear at Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco from September 11-13, emphasized by a generous lineup of Intel-fueled mobile devices. Ranging from ultrabooks to hybrid PCs to smartphones, here are 10 cool gadgets with Intel inside.

Toshiba Satellite U925t convertible ultrabook Toshiba’s first-ever convertible ultrabook, the Satellite U925t, was one of several hybrid PCs at IDF that touted a half-tablet, half-notebook design. In the Satellite U925t’s case, users can opt for traditional clamshell mode or use the sliding hinges to move the top lid down for a more tablet-like experience. It is also fully touch-enabled, runs an Intel thirdgeneration Ivy Bridge processor and weighs about 3.2 pounds. Pricing details have not been released yet, but Toshiba plans to officially launch the new PC at the end of October, alongside the launch of Windows 8.

Dell XPS Duo 12 convertible ultrabook Dell’s XPS Duo 12 ultrabook definitely stood out as being the most unique hybrid device on the IDF show floor. Rather than sliding the top screen down over the keyboard like most convertible ultrabooks, users rotate its screen–which sits within a detachable bezel frame–to transition into tablet mode. Fully touch-enabled and optimized for Windows 8, the XPS Duo 12 has 97 percent more pixels than standard HD displays, creating a super-crisp user experience. It was not the lightest or thinnest ultrabook on the IDF block but its unique form factor and bright display certainly grabbed attendees’ attention. Dell has not specified a price point yet, but said the XPS Duo 12 will launch when Windows 8 does at the end of October.

Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook Acer’s Aspire S7 is touch-enabled for Windows 8 and sports a unique metallic unibody design, similar to Apple’s MacBook Air. It comes in a 13.3-inch and 11.6inch model and runs an Intel Ivy Bridge Core processor. Both models are slim, light and boast long battery

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lives, with the 13.3-inch model getting up to 12 hours. They also come equipped with Acer’s Twin Air cooling system to ensure power efficiency and prevent users’ laps from burning up during use. Also included is a light-sensing keyboard, which automatically detects changes in outside lighting and adjusts its backlit display accordingly. Pricing and availability details for the Aspire S7 models have not yet been disclosed.

Lenovo ThinkPad XI carbon ultrabook Lenovo released the ThinkPad XI Carbon ultrabook as a testament to the ThinkPad brand’s 20-year anniversary. And while its much thinner, lighter and faster than the first ThinkPads that hit US shelves, the XI Carbon ultrabook still maintains that air of business-class professionalism that makes a ThinkPad a ThinkPad. The XI Carbon comes with Intel’s vPro platform for PC management, which can be leveraged by IT teams to automatically deploy patch updates, remotely troubleshoot PCs and easily access features for identity and data theft protection. It also comes with two USB ports, a display port, a headphone jack and a SD card reader. Its enterprise-ready design, however, does not compromise portability; the XI Carbon weighs only 3 pounds and measures just 0.71 inches at its thickest point. Users do have to pay a pretty penny for all these perks, though; Lenovo sells the XI Carbon ultrabook for $1,399.

Lava Xolo X900 The Lava Xolo X900 smartphone, available only in India, became the world’s first Intel-powered smartphone when it launched in April. It was also one of the few smartphones on display at IDF. The Xolo X900 runs an Android Gingerbread OS, although Intel has said an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich will roll out shortly. Its Atom Z2460 Medfield processor lets it reach speeds up to 1 GHz, and its 4-inch display can host 1,080-pixel HD video playback. Most notably, though, it represents Intel’s new aim to take on rival chip maker ARM for a slice of the lucrative smartphone market. “As we enter the India market

tech focus with our first smartphone from Lava, the device not only showcases the rich capabilities and user benefits of Intel computing, but also highlights the exciting possibilities of what is still to come,” said Mike Bell, General Manager, Mobile Communications Group, Intel, when the phone was unveiled.

HP Spectre XT ultrabook The touch-enabled Spectre XT is one of several Windows 8 PCs expected to launch from HP later this year, and it is also the first-ever notebook from HP to run Intel’s Thunderbolt I/O technology, meaning it can transfer music, movies and other data to external devices at super-fast speeds. The Spectre XT will not be the lightest or thinnest ultrabook on the shelves–it measures 0.7 inches and weighs 4.77 pounds–but it boasts a design that has been optimized for the Windows 8 touch-screen experience with edge-to-edge glass and HP’s Imagepad technology for more precise multi finger and gesture navigation. The new Spectre XT is set to launch in December for $1,399.

Lenovo K800 The first smartphone from Lenovo to be fueled by an Intel Atom chip, the K800 is available today in China for around $524. It has a 4.5-inch screen, 1 GB of RAM and runs an Android 2.3.7 OS. Both a front- and rear-facing camera are included, and it can reach speeds up to 1.6 GHz with its 32 nm Atom processor. Its specs may fall short compared to those touted by Apple’s new iPhone 5, but the K800 is somewhat of a milestone for both Intel and Lenovo, both of which are just starting to tap into the smartphone market, using this device to pave the way.

Asus Vivo Tab Asus in August took the wraps off its Windows 8-based Vivo Tab, a convertible PC whose claim to fame is being one of the first NFCenabled notebooks on the market. It has an 11.6-inch display that can detach from its keyboard and be used as a tablet, complete with 10-point multi touch technology. In addition to having NFC, the Vivo Tab is also one of the first convertible PCs out of the gate to run Intel’s nextgeneration Clover Trail processor. Asus has not disclosed pricing or availability just yet.

Acer Iconia W510 tab The Iconia W510 tab is Acer’s flagship hybrid PC based on Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 OS. Unlike most convertibles, which tend to boast two different form factors–a tablet or a clamshell–the Iconia W510 tab has

what Acer calls “tri-mode” functionality, offering a third usage model called “presentation mode.” Ideal for watching movies or reading, this third form factor comes to life when users bend the top screen backward and prop it up on its detachable keyboard. Pricing and availability details are not available yet, but if Acer follows the suit of several of its OEM rivals, the new device could be coming this October, at the launch of Windows 8.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 The ThinkPad Tablet 2 is Lenovo’s debut Windows 8 offering. It is a 10.1-inch tablet running on an Intel Atom processor and weighs in at just under 1.3 pounds, making it lighter than both Microsoft’s Surface tablet and Apple’s new iPad. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 is poised to become the de facto tablet of choice for enterprise users when it launches in October; it has a full-sized USB port to attach to other in-office devices like monitors or printers and has biometrically stored passwords and an optional fingerprint scanner for extra security. Lenovo has not specified a price for the new device, but it told CRN in August that it plans to make it competitive. n

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby issued in the interest of consumers that M/s. Techcom Technologies Private Limited, Y-40, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase –II, New Delhi 110 020 are not authorized partners / authorized distributors of Acer India (Pvt ) Limited which has the sole right for conducting all businesses related to the ‘Acer’ brand in India. It has come to the knowledge of Acer that the referred party has imported TFT Monitors that carry the Acer brand other than through Acer India (Pvt ) Limited. Further it is declared that Acer India (Pvt) Limited has no knowledge about the originality, genuineness, newness as well as usage of certified original components in the products imported by Ms Techcom Technologies Private Limited. Without prejudice, the consumers are hereby cautioned that such TFT Monitors purchased either directly from M/s. Techcom Technologies Private Limited, -40, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase –II, New Delhi 110 020 or through their agents, any where in India, will not qualify for any after-sales support, including warranty, from Acer India (Pvt) Limited. All risks associated with using such TFT Monitors, which are of questionable origin and quality, will be that of the consumer and Acer India (Pvt) Limited shall not be liable for any disputes / claims / damages / responsibility whatsoever in respect of these products.

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channel buzz Digilite celebrates first anniversary

igilite, the motherboard brand from Smartlink Network Systems, celebrated its first anniversary with a Digilite First Anniversary Channel Meet at Goa from September 20-22, 2012. The meet was attended by more than 75 people who included Digilite Omega Platinum Partners from across the country along with the Digilite sales and management team. Speaking on the occasion, Rajan Sharma, VP, Sales, Digilite, said, “Today, as we celebrate our first anniversary, we are happy to note that within the first year of the presence in the Indian market we have achieved the milestone of shipping 2,00,000 motherboards. It is exciting to see that in such a short period of time we have made tremendous inroads in this highly competitive market. We are thankful to all our channel partners and SI/OEM customers who have believed in us and shown confidence in Digilite.” He added, “As we move into our second year, we will continue to

n Digilite Omega Platinum Partners during its first anniversary celebration in Goa

seek the support and cooperation of our customers and channel partners who have shown their preference for the Digilite brand. In turn, we are committed to work closely with partners and customers to provide the best product/ performance and post-sales infrastructure.” The meet included updates on

Digilite products and interactive sessions with partners. There was also a guided tour to the Smartlink state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Verna, Goa. The other attractions of the meet were an interactive workshop on motivation and team-building, and a visit to Casino Royale. n

Gigabyte awards partners

igabyte organized a pleasure trip to Malaysia and Thailand for its top performing channel partners for FY2011-12. The company also felicitated its partners across different product categories and regions at an awards ceremony. Alva Liu, Sales Manager, Gigabyte India, presented the trophies at the awards ceremony. The partners who were felicitated

included Sybex Marketing and Dynamic Computer for the highest sales; Generation Next Computer Mart for being the best premium partner; Rathod Infotech for being the best value partner; Mek Peripherals India for being a fast mover; Starcomp Infotech, Generation Next Computer Mart, Shweta Computers and Earth Syscom for being the highest sales

partners in the east, north, south and west respectively; and Redington for being the best national distributor. Sunil Grewal, Director, Sales, Gigabyte India, during the ceremony, said, “Our objective behind this trip is not restricted to rewarding our top partners. It also gives us an opportunity to interact with them and understand their viewpoints.” n

n Alva Liu (center), Sales Manager and Sunil Grewal, (3rd from right) Director Sales, Gigabyte India with colleagues during the trip

n Partners having refreshments aboard Superstar Libra cruise ship

n Partners enjoying the serene waters of the Krabi beach in Thailand

To feature your company’s events in CRN, send write-ups with photographs to editor@ubmindia.com 36

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Defining Strategies & Best Practices for Future Growth With cloud computing, consumerization of IT, smarter mobile devices, customer preference is witnessing a paradigm shift. Add to that the growing trend of online buying and specialty retail, the IT distribution and retail segment is undergoing a transformation. While this ongoing transformation is expected to pose many challenges in the short term, in the long term it promises to open new avenues of opportunities for the IT channel. To leverage the emerging opportunities, however, requires the IT sub-distributors and the retailers to adopt new business models and strategies. This will be the key focus of the forthcoming edition of the CRN Distribution and Retail Summit 2012. After its successful launch last year, CRN promises a bigger and better event at the scenic Orchid Vits, Pune from October 26-28, 2012. The Summit will witness participation from CXOs of India’s 80 leading IT sub-distributors and retailers, handpicked by CRN through a comprehensive awards nom ination process. Certainly, the 3-day Summit offers technology vendors the best integrated platform to launch new products, share renewed market strategies, and gain the mindshare of the best partners in distribution and retailing.

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New Products Asus PadFone smartphone

sus recently launched a smartphone called PadFone, a 4.3 inch device which runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) and has an AMOLED qHD display. It is powered with a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, and has an 8 MP digital camera with Fuji image processor, F2.2 aperture and 5-element lens. The device can be connected to the PadFone station which transforms it into a 10.1 inch Android ICS tablet with up to 63 hours of talk-time. Its DynamicDisplay technology allows a transition between stand-alone and docked modes. The PadFone provides all of the PadFone station’s processing power and storage when the two are docked. The product is priced at an MRP `64,999, comes with a 3-year warranty, and is available with Asus authorized distributors. n

Digisol DG-WR3001N wireless repeater

igisol has launched its 300 Mbps wireless universal repeater DG-WR3001N targeted at frequent flyers and portable wireless device users. It can boost and extend the range of a wireless network. The repeater has an integrated power adapter and a compact design. Users can download, share and experience uninterrupted multimedia within the LAN. The device offers 3-in-1 functionality (with an access point, wireless repeater and wireless client) which can be controlled with an easy toggle switch. The DG-WR3001N supports the latest IEEE802.11n standard and is backward compatible with the IEEE802.11b/g standard. It provides wireless security to protect sensitive data from hackers, and maintains the confidentiality of the wireless network by using security protocols ranging from 64/128-bit WEP encryption (the first level of security) to WPA2 Enterprise (at the highest level). The product is priced at `2,999, comes with a lifetime warranty, and is available with Digisol authorized distributors. n

HP Elitebook business notebook

P has launched a small and lightweight business notebook, the Elitebook 2170p. 11.6 inch in size, it weighs around 1.3 kg and has a battery life of about eight hours. The notebook is compatible with the common docking stations used across the HP business notebook portfolio. The notebook offers a full-sized keyboard with optional backlight, and has a business-rugged design. It also features an optional integrated HP mobile broadband. The notebook delivers unified memory architecture graphics and is powered by thirdgeneration Intel Core processors. It also features the HP FitTight battery lock which keeps the battery secure; DisplaySafe frame, a full, double-shot rubber frame which acts as a shockabsorbing barrier; and HP DuraCase, a power assistant. The product is priced at `69,000, comes with a 3-year warranty, and is available with HP authorized distributors. n

Strontium Hawk SSDs

trontium Technology has launched a series of solid state drives (SSDs) called Hawk. These are Hynixmade SSDs with Strontium branding and after-sales support. They are based on SandForce’s SF2281 controller and SK Hynix flash. Hawks have a read and write speed of over 500 MB/s. In addition, they feature enhanced durability and silent operation. They are shock-proof and are more reliable compared to traditional hard drives. Hawks are available in 120 GB and 240 GB capacities, and support the SATA I/II/III interface. Hawk SATA III 120 GB and 240 GB drives are priced at `6,999 and `12,999 respectively, come with a 3-year warranty, and are available with Strontium authorized distributors. n

The products featured here have not undergone any benchmarking or testing. The trailers contain information provided by vendors and distributors. To feature your company’s products in CRN, send write-ups with photos to editor@ubmindia.com

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Swaminathan, Bhalla and company

here has been intense speculation that Ravi Swaminathan, MD, AMD India, will retire by the end of the year. According to sources close to AMD, the news is that Swaminathan would retire after a career of more than 35 years, with more than two decades spent in the IT industry. Swaminathan had headed the Personal Systems Group at HP for nearly a decade before taking over the reins at AMD. However, the PR Head of AMD who spoke to CRN dismissed the query as a baseless speculation, and said that Swaminathan has not yet announced any retirement plans. Another speculation doing the rounds is that Mahesh Bhalla, Executive Director, Dell India, will be moving out to head the Samsung India business. Bhalla had a ready reply to this. “I have been hearing the news of my resignation for the past six months. I wish to inform CRN and channels that this is not true. I am very much with Dell.” n

Personal

“I would eradicate corruption” Rajesh Doshi, Director, Purchase & Marketing, Top Notch Infotronix, is a first-generation entrepreneur. He started the Zebronics brand under Top Notch in 1997. If not in the IT industry: I would have been a doctor.

Rajesh Doshi

Biggest passion: To see our India shine.

Behind the wheels: Volkswagen. Gadget I cannot live without: My BlackBerry. Weekends are for: Family and friends. Favorite holiday destination: My home town; any Indian heritage town or city. Hate the most: Lies. Favorite movie: Hachiko, and Hindi drama movies. Favorite stars: Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Enrique Iglesias, Sridevi, Vidya Balan. Role model: Narendra Modi. Ultimate ambition: To make Zebronics the first choice of the young and old. Wildest thing I have ever done: Watched a horror movie. Thing I most want to do in life: To bring smile on the faces that need it the most. If I became the PM: I would eradicate corruption and make India 100 percent literate. Celebrity I would like to spend a day with: Rajnikanth. One person I would like to meet and why: Lata Mangeshkar, to get inspired by her. Deepest and darkest fear: That we may never get to see the India for which great freedom fighters like Subash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh sacrificed their lives. n

Computer Reseller News

01/10/2012 www.crn.in

— CRN Network

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