e de idti too rr iiaal l
Leading the change
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t’s not what any of us expected. With breathtaking speed, in the autumn of 2008 the credit markets ceased functioning normally, governments around the world began nationalising financial systems and considering bailouts of other troubled industries. Some big names in the finance sector disappeared. Currency, oil and commodities lurched, and real estate across the world suffered. Business owners and top executives of companies confront a profoundly uncertain business environment unlike most of them have ever faced. Uncertainty surrounds not only the downturn’s wrath of depth and duration— though these are decidedly big unknowns—but also the very future of a global economic order. About half a year ago, the only challenges to this global economic system seemed to be external ones like climate change, terrorism, and war. Now, every day brings news that makes all of us wonder if the system itself will survive. So how do business leaders begin to overcome the paralysis that dooms them? To start with, they should take stock of what they know about their industries and the surrounding economic environment. Such an understanding will probably suggest needed changes in strategy. Even then, enormous uncertainty will remain, particularly about how governments will behave and how the global economy and financial system will interact. Instead of listening to the negative banters,
this will help leaders determine whether they are facing just a few declining quarters, a severe global recession, or something in between. Of course, uncertainty of this magnitude will leave some leaders lost in the fog, but one must avoid impulsive, uncoordinated, and ultimately ineffective steps. Business leaders must evaluate an unusually broad set of macroeconomic outcomes and strategic responses and then act to make themselves more flexible, aware, and resilient. This is given in detail in the story, Leading the change, page 29. These strategies will not only help companies to survive but also to seize the extraordinary opportunities that arise during periods of vast uncertainty. As consumers across the world batten down the hatches and the global economy slows, business leaders will have to get more aggressive – market themselves, look for alternate lowhanging opportunities and increase their product/service offerings.
SUJAY NAIR Editorial Director; Digit Channel Connect
sujay.nair@9dot9.in
Business leaders must act to make themselves more flexible, aware and resilient
sounding board Great Magazine Dear Editor, I really liked the Channel Connect April issue. The magazine has a very attractive layout. The size of the magazine is very handy and easy to read. DCC is a bit different in terms of content from its competitors in the market. I am sure it would soon be a eye candy among the community. Best of luck! Regards,
Kaushik Pandaya MD, Kalp Systems, Ahamedabad
An interesting read I really liked the look and feel of the magazine. Its attractive layout makes it an interesting read. I thoroughly enjoy reading the published content. I look forward to reading more about the trends and recent happenings in the channel community.
Vikas Narang CEO, nv Computers, Amritsar
keep it up Write to the Editor E-mail: editor@digitchannelconnect.com Snail Mail: The Editor, Channel Connect, KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703
Digit Channel Connect has a lot of potential. I want to wish the magazine as well as the edit team all the best for future.
Arvind Kumar Prorietor, Computer Enterprise, Punjab
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
3
may 2009
contents cover story
ATTRACT RETAINgrow
20
new customers
existing customers
18
Shrinking disposable incomes among customers and increasing competition among channel partners have led to a change in strategies for customer experience. Channel Partners, SIs and VARs are focusing on retaining existing customers and attracting new ones in order to rake in larger market share
product review
14
Dell Inspiron 15 Notebook........................... 6 HP-1001TU Notebook PC . .......................... 10 Lenovo IdeaPad G430 ................................ 12 Compaq Presario CQ40-317TU .................. 12
Vipin Tuteja Executive Director, Production Systems Group (PSG) and Head Integrated Marketing & SAO, Xerox
Q&A
regulars Editorial...........................................................................03 TRENDS............................................................. 06, 08, 10,12 Celebrity Connect.........................................................32
Volume 1, Issue 6
Analyst-Speak................................................................36 Managing Director: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha Printer & Publisher: Kanak Ghosh
event coverage
24 Channel Champs Program
advertisers index Samsung ............................................................................................ Cover On Cover Gigabyte . ...............................................................................................................IFC Top Notch ................................................................................................................. 4 Jupiter ......................................................................................................................7 Microworld ............................................................................................................... 9 Sunder Marketing...................................................................................................... 11 Supertron . .............................................................................................................. 13 Pushpam................................................................................................................. 36 Seagate . ............................................................................................................... IBC
Editorial Editorial Director: Sujay Nair Sr. Correspondent: Maneka Tanwani Design Creative Head: Kabir Malkani Art Director: Rohit A Chandwaskar Chief Designer: Abraham K John Illustrators: Shrikrishna Patkar Photographer: Jiten Gandhi Sales & Marketing VP Sales & Marketing: Navin Chand Singh National Manager - Events and Special Projects: Mahantesh Godi (09880436623) Business Manager (Engagement Platforms) Arvind Ambo (09819904050) National Manager - Channels: Krishnadas Kurup (09322971866) Asst. Brand Manager: Arpita Ganguli Co-ordinator - MIS & Scheduling: Aatish Mohite Bangalore & Chennai: Sanjay Bhan (09341829285) Delhi: Pranav Saran (09312685289) Kolkata: Jayanta Bhattacharya (09331829284) Mumbai: Ganesh Lakshmanan (9819618498) Production & Logistics Sr. GM Operations: Shivshankar M Hiremath Production Executive: Vilas Mhatre Logistics: MP Singh, Mohd. Ansari, Shashi Shekhar Singh
Channel champs Sr Co-ordinator - Events: Rakesh Sequeira Events Executives: Pramod Jadhav, Nitin Kedare, Johnson Noronha Audience Dev. Executive: Aparna Bobhate, Shilpa Surve Events Programmer : Vijay Mhatre OFFICE ADDRESS
Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt Ltd., KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai - 400 703 Phone: 40789666 Fax: 022-40789540, 022-40789640 Printed and published by Kanak Ghosh for Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt Ltd. C/O KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Navi Mumbai 400703 Editor: Sujay Nair C/O KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Navi Mumbai 400703 Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd, TTC Ind. Area, Plot No. : A - 403, MIDC, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400709
EMC ........................................................................................................................ BC cover design : kabir malkani
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
5
may 2009
trends MTNL and RIM to offer the BlackBerry solution for subscribers in Mumbai
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tate-r un telecom company Mahanagar Te l e c o m N i ga m (MTNL) and Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the BlackBerry solution for MTNL customers in Mumbai MTNL will offer both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service, as well as a choice of smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8310 and BlackBerry 8700g. The BlackBerry solution brings together smartphones, software and services to provide customers with easy wireless access to email, phone, calendar, IM, Internet, intranet and multimedia applications, as well as a wide range of other mobile business and lifestyle applications. J Gopal, Executive Director MTNL Mumbai said, “MTNL has been consistently focused on offering the latest technology and services to its customers. Our strategic collaboration with RIM to offer BlackBerry services to our customers takes us a step forward in this endeavour. The availability of BlackBerry services and smartphones on MTNL’s network in Mumbai will offer customers mobile access to information and applications to help simplify their lives.” Frenny Bawa, Vice President, India at Research In Motion said, “We are pleased to announce our partnership with MTNL in order to expand the adoption of BlackBerry products and services in Mumbai. MTNL has a strong history of serving customers in India and we look forward to working together to enable enhanced communications, productivity and flexibility for both businesses and consumers.” MTNL will offer BlackBerry Enterprise Server to corporate customers that manage their own email servers. BlackBerry Enterprise Server software integrates with IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise to provide organisations with secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data with advanced security and IT policy controls.
XFX introduces 40nm Graphic card
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FX ATI Radeon HD 4770 is the first graphics card made using the latest 40nm manufacturing processing technology Powered by the latest 40nm manufacturing processing technology, the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4770 Graphics Card is state-of-the-art. Representing an industry milestone in the advancement in gaming performance, it is capable of widespread destruction with faster frame rates, higher resolutions and unparalleled speed. GDDR5 memory arms users with twice the data per pin at 750MHz than equally equipped GDDR3 cards. The brute processing power delivered by the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4770 ensures performance for physics, artificial intelligence, dual-stream picture-in-picture computing and ray tracing calculations. 24x custom filter anti-aliasing (CFAA) and high performance anisotropic filtering delivers realism, smoothing jagged edges and creating amazingly realistic graphics. And ATI CrossFireX technology seamlessly scales rigs to quad mode. Engineered to maximize the latest DirectX 10.1 games, the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4770 delivers performance for today’s and tomorrow’s games. ATI Stream Technology enables the XFX ATI Radeon HD 4770 to tackle the most GPU-punishing tasks like video transcoding with speed. ATI Avivo HD video and display technology allows users to watch the latest Blu-ray movies or other HD content at full 1080p display resolutions with picture-perfect clarity. Enhanced DVD Upscaling ensures that standard DVD movies are viewed in near high-definition quality. And this little card uses post-processing algorithms to enhance standard and lowresolution videos and movies on HD displays. The Unified Video Decoder 2 frees up the CPU for other tasks so that users enjoy the ultimate visual experience for even the most processing-intensive content, including VCC-1, H.264 and MPEG-2. ATI Stream technology accelerates the conversion of standard and HD video into multiple formats for use on differing consumer electronics devices. Built-in HDMI with 7.1 digital surround sound support enables maximizes the latest audio technologies. And Dynamic Power Management ensures that high performance is available when it’s needed, and conserves power when demand on the graphics processor is low. XFX ATI Radeon 4770 is available at street price of Rs 8750 and three years warranty with Rashi peripherals and its 53 branches all across India.
review
BlackBerry Smartphones from MTNL The BlackBerry Bold is a full-QWERTY smartphone that is crafted from premium materials and features a luxurious black exterior, satin chrome finished frame and leatherette backplate. It supports enterprise-grade Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) networks and includes built-in GPS. It also supports tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world. The BlackBerry Bold comes with an HVGA display and rich multimedia features. The BlackBerry Curve 8310 from MTNL is a full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone that offers premium phone features as well as easy access to communications, information and entertainment applications. It also features rich multimedia capabilities including a 2 megapixel camera, media player and expandable memory slot, as well as built-in GPS. The BlackBerry 8700g is another popular full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone that is ideal for communicating on the go — with integrated email, phone, browser and organiser applications
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
6
may 2009
Dell Inspiron 15 Notebook Today, Dell Inspiron 15 is one of the best selling laptop in the Indian market. It offers configuration as per user requirement. It has a user-friendly keyboard and offers HMDI port, dual core processor and 2GB RAM that ensures high performance. Inspiron 15 is a thinner and lighter alternative to the Inspiron 1520. A solid notebook, it has won hearts of many youngsters. Excellent option for those who want a quality computer that performs well on office tasks and multimedia, but don’t want to spend a whole lot of money.
Atul Srivastava, MD, Chinon System, Delhi
trends D-Link gives Windows 7 thumbs up for digital network compatibility
Windows 7 Release Candidate is available from Microsoft
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xtensive D-Link testing indicates Microsoft’s new operating system offers easier user experience, less support calls and product returns D-Link, the end-to-end computer networking solutions provider for consumer and business, welcomed the improvements to network compatibility with the much anticipated release of Windows 7, Microsoft’s newest operating system for PCs. As one of Microsoft Corp.’s Tier One Partners in the launch of Windows 7, D-Link was able to conduct extensive early testing of the program to ensure that all of its products can be installed and operate with maximum functionality in a Windows 7-based PC-networked environment. “One of the most important innovations that we’re seeing in Windows 7 is the ability for our network devices to be recognized and install automatically,” said Jayesh Kotak, VP – Product Management, D-Link India, “Connectivity is key,” he said. “Windows 7 provides us with a platform and resources to ensure that D-Link products are easy to use out of the box. This will completely change the way users relate to their D-Link networking products and make it easier for them to realize the full potential of their investment. And it also will reduce technical support calls and product returns.” Jayesh Kotak added, “D-Link and Microsoft have a shared vision of anywhere, anytime access to the user’s digital world. With our networking devices and Windows 7, this vision can be realized.”
Imation restructures its India business
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mation has announced restructuring of its Indian businesses by bringing its India Operations, under the ambit of the EMEA region in the business leadership of Riyaz Abdulla, Regional Manager, Middle East. Riyaz Abdulla, Regional Manager, EMEA & SAARC said, “Imation has been growing from strength to strength in the EMEA region and the restructuring plan for the India business aims to gain an advantage by strengthening the ties with the Middle East region so as to reinforce Imation’s brand equity and further enhance its market share.” Imation has also announced that Imation India, wholly owned subsidiary of Imation Corp. will be spearheaded by Sandeep Popli, as the Head – Sales and Marketing. Popli has extensive experience and knowledge of the storage market and distribution scenario in India and has made significant contributions to Imation India’s growth. “Sandeep has been associated with Imation India for the last 10 years and has enabled the company to create a niche for itself in the Indian storage Industry. We are confident that his incisive insight into the regional markets and excellent networking with the channel partners will enable us to take Imation’s success to a new level,” added Abdulla. Sandeep Popli initiated his career with Godrej Pacific Technology before joining Imation India. He has had a stellar track record with Imation India and been instrumental in establishing and nurturing its extensive channel network across the country. In his new role, Popli will be responsible for executing Imation’s growth plans for the region. He will also be responsible for reinforcing Imation’s brand equity and channel relationships so as to further strengthen its sales in the region.
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
8
may 2009
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icrosoft announced that the Release Candidate (RC) of the highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system is now available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers Microsoft Corp. has reached a significant milestone with the Release Candidate (RC) of the highly anticipated Windows 7 operating system, now available for download to MSDN and TechNet subscribers at http://technet. microsoft.com. Broader public availability will begin May 5 on the Microsoft Download Center at http://microsoft.com/downloads. The RC milestone is a result of feedback from millions of customers and partners around the world. It indicates the operating system is entering the final phases of development and is ready for partners to develop new applications, device drivers and services, and ready for IT pros to evaluate Windows 7 and examine how it will operate in their environment. “Listening to our partners and customers has been fundamental to the development of Windows 7,” said Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President for the Windows business at Microsoft. “We heard them and worked hard to deliver the highest quality Release Candidate in the history of Windows. We have more partner support than we’ve ever had for an RC and are pleased to say that the Windows 7 RC has hit the quality and compatibility bar for enterprises to start putting it through its paces and testing in earnest,” he added. According to an independent report from Forrester Research’s Ben Gray, “The beta of Windows 7 shows significant promise, and most IT operations professionals are looking forward to its availability and eventual enterprise deployment ... start preparing for it now, and the best way to prepare for Windows 7 is by deploying Windows Vista. Short of that, begin testing your applications and hardware for compatibility against Windows Vista; it will pay off with greater compatibility with Windows 7.” (“Get Ready for Windows 7,” Forrester Research, April 2009.) With Windows 7, customers will have access to the broadest array of software and hardware options the industry has to offer, and Microsoft is committed to delivering tools and support that enhance software compatibility as well as ease deployment and migration concerns for businesses and consumers alike. Customers also will benefit from the strong industry and partner support of Windows 7.
Strong partner support for Windows 7 More than 10,000 companies have signed up to have access to a breadth of helpful tools and resources needed to prepare their products and services to take full advantage of the innovations in Windows 7. “With the upcoming introduction of Windows 7, Microsoft’s new operating system will redefine how people think about computing,” said Joe Roberts, Executive Vice President, Products for Corel Corp. “Drawing on our customer research, we’re building new creative consumer applications that take advantage of the solid performance and powerful touch capabilities Windows 7 offers to turn the typical user experience of mouse clicks and menus on its head — completely changing how users interact with Corel’s creative software.”
trends Trend Micro launches APAC Security Channel Tour
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he APAC seminar will travel to 10 countries including India to discuss the challenges with its partners in the face of the global economic crisis Trend Micro, a worldwide player in network antivirus and Internet content security, is launching a seminar tour in ten major countries across Asia, including four major Indian cities to discuss the challenges and costs of managing content security with its channel partners. The overarching theme of the 2009 APAC Security Challenge Tour is: “Changing the Way we Think About Security in an Expanding Universe of Threats”. In India the Security Challenge Tour will begin in the first week of May 2009 and cover four major cities, namely Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune. Asia-Pacific is seen as a strategic market, with many analysts predicting that the long-term impact of the economic crisis will be the migration of IT companies to the region. And as the IT sector emerges stronger in the coming years, the region will attract an even greater volume and diversity of threats. Security experts predict over 25,000 new threats per hour by 2015, driving vendors to develop newer, faster paradigms to effectively protect their clients. With such a high volume of threats, a new approach is needed to reduce the heavy burden computers have to store and deliver protection information. “With the Asian threat landscape commercializing, many IT security vendors are beginning to look for more comprehensive solutions, becoming aware of cloud computing and SaaS, especially in those Asian markets offering effective SMB solutions. The Security Challenge Tour will help our channel partners to understand why companies need to rethink their overall security strategy with new enterprise products, SaaS offerings, and information on how the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ powers these solutions to provide immediate protection with less complexity.” said Amit Nath, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Trend Micro. Forrester Research shows that Asia-Pacific threat protection vendors prefer cloud computing solutions because it addresses the commercialization of threats and opens a whole new playing field for business. Asia-Pacific therefore poses significant growth potential for Trend Micro resellers, as it the leading proponent in the world of client-hosted, in-the-cloud solutions with its Smart Protection Network technology and supporting products.
ZOTAC announces presence at Computex 2009
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OTAC International, manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, announces its presence at Computex 2009 in Taipei, Taiwan – the largest computer exhibition in Asia. ZOTAC will demonstrate the latest high-performance graphics cards, platforms and power-efficient solutions on the 4th floor of Nangang Hall at booth M1219a. “ZOTAC is looking forward to being present at Computex 2009. We should have an exciting booth with new products and intriguing showcases including 3-way SLI and 3D Vision,” said Carsten Berger, Marketing Director, ZOTAC International. ZOTAC Infinity Edition water-cooling solutions will also be on display, showcasing the best engineering ZOTAC has to offer for high-performance graphics cards. A 3D Vision showcase will let end users and industry professionals experience real 3D effects first hand with ZOTAC hardware. 3D Vision technology encompasses gamers with the 3D gaming environment for an immersive gaming experience.
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
10
may 2009
Transcend launches 16GB microSDHC and P3 USB Card Reader combo
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ranscend announced the availability of a convenient kit that includes a 16GB microSDHC card and Transcend P3 compact USB card reader in India In order to provide greater benefits for consumers, Transcend Information, a global player in storage and multimedia products, has announced the availability of a convenient kit that includes a 16GB microSDHC card and Transcend P3 compact USB card reader in India. The kit can help Transcend’s customers from losing their tiny microSDHC card and transfer data easily to any available computer. Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & APAC, Transcend, said, “These days everyone is storing more and more pictures, movies and music on their cell phone, increasing the need for fast, dependable, high capacity memory cards. Transcend’s extra-large capacity, high performance microSDHC Class 6 memory cards are fully compatible with SD version 2.0 and comply to Class 6 speed standards, offering guaranteed write speeds of at least 6MB/s to ensure your device remains quick and responsive while saving, copying, recording or viewing files.” For added convenience, Transcend currently offers a combo package that includes a microSDHC card bundled with an ultracompact USB reader to make transferring data between your computer and your cell phone easier than ever. Simply remove the microSDHC card from your cell phone, slide the card into the reader and pug it right into your computer’s USB port. The reader works just like a standard USB flash drive, with the added ability to upgrade to an even higher capacity microSDHC card in the future. The reader is also small and light enough to attach to your cell phone, PDA, or keychain so you can always have the reader available when you need it. Transcend’s microSDHC + USB microSD reader combo package is the perfect complement to your mobile lifestile.
review
HP-1001TU Notebook PC T
his small and compact notebook by HP addresses best the needs of Internetcentric consumers who are always on move. Its sleek and ultra-portable design attracts a lot of consumers. It is only less than 1-inch and weighs only a little more than 1kg. It has all the necessary features such as widescreen display, LED backlight, builtin webcam, microphone, etc. It can be termed as a complement to HP’s families of notebooks and desktop PCs and thus is a huge hit among masses.
Vikas Narang, CEO NV COMPUTERS, Amritsar
trends Epson launches Photo all-in-one for wireless
review Lenovo IdeaPad G430
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conically designed with smooth curves and black gloss, the Epson Stylus Photo TX700W claims to offer speedy lab quality photo prints coupled with convenient WI-FI capabilities Epson, the player in digital imaging, has launched the Stylus Photo TX700W, its w i r e - less, all-in-one, 6-color photo printer that empowers multiple photo-enthusiasts to print their masterpieces from anywhere in the home. Epson’s launch of this iconically designed black beauty is strong indication of the company’s thrust to reinforce its brand leadership in high definition printing amongst an expanding segment of digital camera owners. The Stylus Photo TX700W is a winner of the International Forum (iF) Design Awards in 2009. The International Forum Design is an independent institution which is highly revered globally as a window on the latest technological developments and trends. It evaluates products from a holistic and customer-centric perspective. Its main judging criteria include design quality, workmanship, innovativeness, environmental compatibility and functionality The new printer is positioned as the perfect home printer for amateur photographers and more experienced D-SLR photographers. Beneath its smooth nomenclature, clean lines and glossy finish, the TX700W combines Epson’s high-speed Micro Piezo print head with a 6-color Claria Photographic Ink-set to ensure that every print, is life-like, sharp and vivid. Epson believes the launch of the TX700W will be a boon to the growing digital photography market, with its wireless printing capability and superb print quality. The TX700W is one of the first Wi-Fi enabled printers in the market. The TX700W comes with two in-built trays that enable users to have both plain and photo paper ready for use. It has integrated Wi-Fi and Ethernet connection so it can be accessed by anyone throughout the home. With a compact design and integral scanner and copier functions the TX700W is a multi-function device that also has the capacity to print CDs and DVDs. Priced at Rs 13999, the Epson Stylus Photo TX700W is available from April 2009. An optional auto-duplexer is priced at Rs 1499.
review Compaq Presario CQ40-317TU I
n my view point, in today’s market scenario Compaq Presario CQ40-317TU is making waves in the market due to its edge over competition for its price and power-packed features. From my outlets Compaq Presario Cq60-209TU too is going great because of its 16-inch form factor and numerical key pad apart from Presario regular features. The all new HP Pavilion dv2-1002AU, which is a all new 12-inch AMD SKU is also very beautiful at very price sensitive point. This too has very good marketshare.
Sandeep Malviya, Malviya Informatics, Kota (Rajasthan)
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
12
may 2009
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he Lenovo G430 is one of the best entry-level notebooks available in the market today. With a matte finish in black, the notebook looks very elegant. The build quality is sturdy and although the notebook weighs 2.8kg, it comes with quite an impressive configuration It is powered by Intel’s Core2Duo processor and comes with 2GB RAM, 250GB harddisk, DVD writer and has a beautiful 14.1-inch display screen. In terms of connectivity, it has Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and even has an integrated webcam and a card reader. At a price point of Rs 32,000, the G430 is simply put a very attractive offering available for someone looking for a notebook on a budget. And thus I can put it as it is the most reliable and affordable notebook from the series that we currently sell.
Giriraj Khandelwal, Crystal Computers, Kota (Rajasthan)
McAfee releases UTM firewall for SMB
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cAfee announced the release of its line of McAfee Unified Threat Management (UTM) Firewalls The McAfee UTM Firewalls, formerly referred to as SnapGear, are multifunctional network security appliances that are attractive to small and mid-sized (SMBs) businesses based on their competitive pricing, reliability, and ease of use. The appliances are available in seven different models for small to medium sized businesses, and come fully integrated with, intrusion prevention, network firewall protection, and VPN services. Optional modules include enterprise-class technology such as TrustedSource reputation ratings for mail filtering, and Web filtering for protection against known and unknown threats, which can include anti-malware, anti-spyware, and antivirus capabilities. They can be easily deployed in remote substations, such as large enterprise branch offices or retail locations, or at a vendor’s site to provide strong authentication of devices attempting to access critical assets. The UTM Firewall family now includes key new features and functionality under the McAfee brand, including: Centralized management and new dashboards—users can now securely manage any of the UTM appliances centrally via a new featurerich browser based McAfee UTM Firewall Control Center, and gain an overall picture of their network and device status at a glance Active intrusion detection and prevention—proactively monitors network events and alert network personnel when there is suspicious activity using an enterprise class signature set 3G Wireless Support—Models with USB ports are able to support 3G wireless connectivity for a primary connection or backup/failover “Unified threat management devices continue to be in high demand and are the predominate security appliance that SMBs will be looking for in 2009,” said Chris Christiansen, IDC. “They help SMBs respond to cost-cutting initiatives, managing their risk, and meeting their compliance regulations programs. Devices that offer a wide range of security solutions in an integrated package with a platform for subscriptionbased security services will remain to be the most viable,” he added.
Q&A Channel partners will look at providing customised solutions for the specific need of an industry vertical Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Production Systems Group (PSG) and Head Integrated Marketing & SAO, Xerox India spoke with Maneka Tanwani on the challenges faced by the Indian channel community and the trends going forward
DCC: Can you discuss some of the challenges faced by the Indian channel community today? What are some of the best practices that will help channel partners counter the economi cenario? How can vendors help them? The current economic scenario has had an impact on every industry as customers are relentlessly looking for ways to cut costs and increase return on investment. Some of the key challenges faced by the Indian channel community today are as follows: n Retaining clients n Maintaining profitability n Delivering cost-effective solutions, customised to the needs of the customer In this slowdown, it is extremely important for channel partners to understand the need of the customers and provide cost effective and customised solutions in time. Further addressing customer queries efficiently and providing adequate after sales support to maintain customer relationship is also imperative. Vendors can help the channel partners by devising innovative solutions to meet the needs of the customers. Xerox CEV program is one such initiative. They also need to support the partners with profitable bonus schemes and training programmes that can encourage them to out-perform their business targets and in return earn cash benefits to further increase business revenues. In this financial year, we have chalked out three key targets to achieve maximum momentum in our channel business. Based on our recent inter-
DIGIT CHANNEL CONNECT
14
MAY 2009
nal sur vey on our channel par tner s’ strengths and weakness, we have taken decision to increase the cycle of high-level training programmes for our channel partners. Earlier, we used to deliver training programs once a year, now we have started organising regional training programmes half yearly. Secondly, we have started joint marketing developments programme with our partners including demo experience, road shows, exhibition, etc. Of late, we have concluded joint road shows with our channel partners in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune & Agra.
DCC: One of the biggest issues today for channel partners is the drop in sales and profit margins. What initiatives are you taking to make it a winwin situation for Xerox, your channel partners and ultimately your end customers? Innovation is the key to sustain and accelerate business momentum in today’s business environment. Xerox PSG has a two- pronged strategy to enable its partners to sell products/solutions better to fetch greater bottom lines: Firstly the channel network works hand in hand with Xerox direct business in PSG. The entire PSG marketing team as well as the pre-sales team supports the channel partner in closing his sales and earn his margins. Regionally, we have the regional heads, PSM’s and analysts who closely work with the partners. We also have resources at the central level who take care of each and every channel related activity and issues. Further product managers also keep updating the partners with technology and pricing information. Secondly we focus a lot on channel partner trainings and conduct a basic training for all our partners. But when it comes to the Platinum, Gold and Silver partners there are other facilities. For example, if a Gold partner achieves his target he is invited for a specific training in Xerox that happens
for the direct sales force. For the Platinum level, we nominate the partner sales force for attending global trainings that happen outside India. Within India, we have one or two training sessions in a year. Apart from product specific schemes, Xerox also offers Special price bundles, combo offers, and promotions around variable data software which help our partners with good ROI and helped PSG increase its footprint in the market.
DCC: What is your take on the concept of e-tailing? Are you considering taking up this initiative? Do you think this trend will hurt the channel community? Xerox PSG products are specific customised solutions which require a high level of expertise and skills of pre-sales analysts and hence cannot be offered for sale online. Hence we still require the conventional channel partners to push and market our products.
DCC: You have recently launched a Certified Economic Value program to reach. What do you aim to achieve with this program? How will your partners be benefited by it? Certified Economic Value (CEV) program is a firstof-its-kind initiative, which we launched to allow our customers (printers) to explore profitable business opportunities in the growing digital print space and maintain profitability, even in the current economic scenario. Under this program, Xerox customers looking for affordable digital presses can choose from a range of pre-owned Xerox Production Press Equipments certified on a 29 point health check and offering post-sale service guarantee. Our partners will benefit immensely from this program as it will allow them to reach out to customers in tier II & tier III cities, which will help them to sustain business momentum.
DCC: What are some of the trends in the channel space that we will witness few years down the line? With increased competitive pressures, channel partners and solution providers will be increasingly looking at providing customised solutions catering to the specific need of an industry vertical. The entire business will be on value addition. n
Q&A
“Box pushers/mini distributors might get extinguished” Today, when most companies have curtailed their marketing activities, Mumbai-based Orient Technologies has decided to do otherwise. The company has invested Rs 10 lakh for marketing-related activities. Ajay Sawant, Director, Orient Technologies tells Charu Khera about survival of the fittest and what lies ahead DCC: Pertaining the current economic slowdown, when companies have low IT budgets, Orient Technologies has ear marked Rs 10 lakh for marketing-related activities. Can you explain this move of yours? In the current scenario, one needs to be competitive. Our aim is to ensure that customers feel the strong recall towards our organisation. And thus we have earmarked Rs 10 lakh for our branding exercises. This will also help us in retaining our existing customers and attracting new customers. We even intend to increase our revenue for this fiscal to send positive vibes to our customers. This would help us stand out amidst competition.
DCC: With verticals like BFSI and Manufacturing witnessing a sharp hit by the recession, are there any specific verticals that you currently focusing on? Though both BFSI and Manufacturing sectors have been adversely affected by slowdown, but we are working with co-operative and rural district banks in BFSI and Pharma in Manufacturing segment. We have even adopted strategies to tap the right clientele. We have identified various verticals, which have not been significantly affected by the slowdown and within these verticals, and have approached cli-
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ents who are agreeable to invest in IT.
DCC: What are some of the opportunities that you foresee for the channel community in the years to come? I strongly believe that the current economic situation can serve as a perfect time for channel consolidation. Moving ahead, it will be survival of the fittest. Only solutions providers/ISVs are going to sail through this tough period. But if this slowdown continues for another year or two, box pushers/mini distributors might get extinguished.
DCC: What are some of the major challenges that the channel community faces today? Customers do not pay money in time, which leads to liquidity crunch. So there is no inflow of money and it is the biggest challenge that the community is facing today. Most often you cannot predict your customers, which leads to many issues with regards to payment. Having inroads into customer behavior will be a solution to this problem. Customers today are not getting funds from their CFOs – IT budgets are getting cut and payment delays are common. Also, they are told to work on opex model and substantially reduce capital investments. Thus, obtaining and then managing big deals is a challenge today. We too, rather than approaching the CIOs, now first work
with CFOs to see if the organisation has the bandwidth to invest on IT. It is only after getting a nod from the CFO that we approach the CIO to design the project.
DCC: Do you think this economic downturn has given rise to unhealthy competition among channel community? Can vendors play some role in curbing this unhealthy competition? Unhealthy competition is and will remain part and parcel of any business – specially in the highly competitive channel business. Good news is that various vendors like Citrix, Cisco, HP, etc. are actively involved in channel efforts to curb such practices. They are proactive and have been taking strict actions against partners who are found indulging in malpractices to compete the cutthroat business.
DCC: What are your strategies for attracting new customers in this bleak market? With companies slashing IT budgets, we try and help them consolidate their existing infrastructure. This in turn results in lower operating cost. Moreover, we try and send out positive vibes to our customers that the slowdown is just a phase and organisations should not completely stop investing in areas, which are important. n
Q&A
ACMA helps install financial discipline within members The IT channel business of Ahemdabad is hard hit by the financial power of large entities like the LFRs (Large Format Retailers) and distributors. In an exclusive interview with Charu Khera, Kaushik Pandaya, President, ACMA shares how the unity of partners can act as their effective saviour to deal with the situation and the critical role of channel associations opportunity by various means in the market.
DCC: Please share a brief background of ACMA (Ahmedabad Computer Merchants Association) – members, benefits to members, etc.
DCC: How badly are the members hit by the current economic slowdown? What steps has ACMA taken to protect the interests of its members?
ACMA is an age old association established in 1996 currently with member strength of more then 300 plus channel partners of Ahmedabad. ACMA’s main objective is to increase awareness of users and buyers; provide platform for buyer-seller interaction as well as promote and publicise members’ views at right forums. Also, a crucial function of ACMA is to interact with various government departments such as excise, sales tax, Octroi, etc. to voice the concern of our members. Moreover, ACMA helps improve communication amongst members; and help install financial discipline among members.
The entire channel community has been facing the impact of slowdown. Toplines have been cut into half compared to what they were a year or two ago. Inquiry generation has declined and obviously as an effect, the volumes have been affected. We as an association have always tried to restrict unhealthy practice by any vendor in the industry. We believe that any such incident can affect the market more than the recession. On the other hand, members also have to counter market swiping threats from LFRs as well as co-operative funded PC promotion movements. We have fought against such situation in the interest of the members and tried to ensure that channel will retain their share in the market.
DCC: Can you discuss some of the challenges/ issues that the association helps its members address?
DCC: What is ACMA’s stand on piracy? What steps have you taken to combat issue of intellectual property rights in your region?
During times of economic slowdurn, as the case is right now, ACMA helps protect the interest of its members by trying to generate more business
We believe that piracy is the biggest threat to the nation today. Piracy shall be attacked very strongly. But instead of attacking the channel, software
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vendors should be driving actions to educate corporate and SME sectors, many of which are not using legal software. It is also noted that due to the pressure from software vendors, all OEMs have introduced SKUs either with Linux or with free DOS. This is in turn a fuel to the piracy. Somehow this should be addressed largely on a national or international scale.
DCC: What are some of the regular events, Expos, etc that you conduct annually for your members? Has the economic situation affected your regular events? What are your targets for the next year? Events have always been a part and parcel of ACMA – we organise various commercial IT shows as well as social/cultural events such as garba and musical shows. We conduct our IT expo called ‘ACMA IT Show’ annually. Last year it was attended by close to 1.5 lakh visitors. There were 100 stalls at the show. Many big players participated in the show regardless of the financial slowdown. ACMA IT Show 2008 was a great success and helped to raise the sentiments of the recession hit IT industry. We have also organised cricket matches in the past through ACMA. Last year we carried out all the events as planned. Honestly it was difficult to find sponsors for such events due to recession, but we could manage all our shows with no major effect. We surely target to continue all our flagship events in the coming year also. n
cover story
ATTRACT RETAINgrow new customers
existing customers
market share
Shrinking disposable incomes among customers and increasing competition among channel partners have led to a change in strategies for customer experience. Channel Partners, SIs and VARs are focusing on retaining existing customers and attracting new ones in order to rake in larger market share Maneka Tanwani
T
he economic slowdown is a cause of worry and the chances of the situation improving in the near future look very dim. In such a scenario, the first step that organisations – be it large or SMBs, SoHos and even ordinary/end consumers are taking is to cut discretionary spends. In evidently the channel community is hit by this behavioral change in spending patterns. Saket Kapur, General Secretary, PCAIT and MD, Green Vision says, “There has been a sharp decline in IT sales from October onwards. This was when we first felt
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the pinch. At that time we were looking at 60 percent decline in our overall numbers. Today both the regular brands and our own brands have dipped alarmingly.” He further shares that, there is a lot of procrastination that has seeped into the customer mindset and they are stalling their purchase decisions for a later date when things cool down a bit. The overall sentiment in the market is that of despair. And to add fuel to fire, there is a negative buzz with the constant inflow of bad news and doom. This
cover story has accentuated this procrastination and customers are following the wait and watch policy. Disposable income of customers is shrinking. There is a clear-cut slowdown in the demand for IT requirements from the customers and in particular for partners who are in a pure box selling mode. To make things more difficult, competition among the channel partners is increasing manifold as there is a race to grab hold of the limited customer base. So what is it that channel partners need to do to in order to rake in larger market share? The one thing that will set apart a channel partner from the rest of the lot is his ability to enhance his customer’s experience. “Today there has been a decline of margins and at the same time expenses have shot up due to increase in the man per hour cost. Increasing competition has forced the channel community to grow and evolve themselves. More and more partners are looking at providing value addition to attract new customers and retain existing ones to enjoy the benefit of repeat business”, says P K Sinha, Treasurer, BITA (Bihar Information Technology Association) and MD, Astric Computer. Competition is always between two similar things e.g. between two apples but if you value-add around your core competency and upgrade your product and services then you remove the product from general competition and create a new path and product. “Pertaining to the current situation, it is even more difficult to retain customers. Moreover, LFRs (Large Format Retailers) pose as a big threat to the channel fraternity. Customers today are more informed than ever. Thus it is important to make strategic moves to attract and retain them. Providing good and timely after-sales services is one such technique. Partners should also ensure greater visibility to remain competitive, says Prashanth Lahoti, CEO, Access 2 Future. PK Sharma, MD, Comnet Vision echoes this view. He says customer retention is the mantra to survive in today’s cut-throat competitive world. The expectation of customers has increased tremendously today. “Channel community thus should be cautious and resort to measures such as support as well as a personalised touch right from the beginning to providing best after-sales services. Margins have shrunk and so has the disposable income of consumers. This in turn is posing as a biggest threat to us.”
Challenges in customer retention One of the major negative fallback due to the recession is increased intensity of competition among the channel community. Survival of the fittest is
the strategy of the day and some resort to use of unethical tricks of the trade to stay afloat. Industry reports suggest that this rat race has also encouraged unhealthy competition. Markets are turning hostile in pursuit of greater market share. For example, if a customer comes to a channel partner to enquire about a product and if he doesn’t have it, the reseller then tries his best to confuse the customer and quotes him a very low price, promising the stocks will be available shortly. This is just so that the customer would not buy from another reseller as he was quoted a low price, thereby effectively blocking a sale. Other practices that one encounters are buying stocks from peer groups and then selling at very low prices and not paying the vendors. Basically people are living on borrowed oxygen to survive and thus in choking the breath of the market. There have appeared innumerable shades of unethical practices. Survival of the fittest is the only justification that everyone gives. “I believe any unethical trick by a vendor or the resellers would be only a short-term thinking and they will collapse sooner or later. I do not consider them as competitors”, says Jayesh Mehta, President, Association of Information Technology – Bangalore and MD of Future Business Tech. He further says that the focus should be more on developing skills within your organisation so that one does not require depending for survival on such means. I have also seen some good companies revising their partner’s targets downwards so that partners are not under pressure for numbers. Unhealthy competition has been in IT business since long. It is nothing new. The one who is practicing unhealthy business is in the path of extinction. “Industry is known for poor financial indiscipline. That is why, we have seen many partners vanishing from business putting lot distributors and customers in hardship. Irrespective of unethical practices by few of the IT partners, it is wise to stick to good business practices which will keep the company floating. We need strong unity within IT partners to keep the business healthy and strong”, says Ashok Tolanavar, MD, Tolas Electronics. There are limited ways for the channel to survive in the present crisis and there is scare regarding the duration of the slowdown. This doesn’t mean that they turn to wrong and unethical means. Turning hostile will also have an adverse effect for channels. In the given situation, channel partners will have to keep patience, cut down the cost and keep themselves geared to explore alternatives rather destroying the market as it will hurt them in the long run. Kapur of Green Vision explains that channel part-
“Now is the time when one should have the courage and conviction to say no to distress selling and keep the sanctity of margins” Saket Kapur General Secretary, PCAIT and MD, Green Vision
“I believe any unethical trick by a vendor or the resellers would be only a short-term thinking and they will collapse sooner or later. I do not consider them as competitors” Jayesh Mehta President, Association of Information Technology – Bangalore and MD of Future Business Tech
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cover story
Case study Astric Computer is one of the rare companies where the top management realised the importance of undertaking extensive proactive customer loyalty programmes early on. This has not only helped them remain competitive but has been a catalyst in their growth. The company grew by almost 70 percent from the last financial year in spite of the global slowdown. P K Sinha, Treasurer, BITA (Bihar Information Technology Association) and MD, Astric Computer says, it was surprising that we took such a huge growth leap. This was due to our proactive channel and multi-brand venture in the region. We studied consumer behavior and understood that customer now prefer multi brand under a single umbrella for a fair comparison of the products, specification, look and price. The company banked on this finding and incorporated many brands to help their customers make a sound decision. The top management changed their approach and got involved in more customer centric events and programmes. Bonus warranty enhancements schemes were also very effective for them in keeping customers loyal. Astric Computer is also adding products and services in the cart as per the market needs. Staying abreast of market demands has also helped them come a long way. With continued communication and efforts towards customer delight, it aims to keep customers safe and comfortable at all times. “We are also undertaking customer loyalty rewards and promotional programs at regular intervals. We are taking products and services to the doorstep with live demonstrations”, says Sinha. Providing feel and touch is a different experience for Indian consumer and Astric Computer is using this as a value addition to attract more customers. There is more stress on ensuring a complete solution under a single umbrella.
ners can ask the customer and understand his requirements to help him buy if not from us but from where ever he feels right (cheapest) but insist that the deployment would be ours as this is our expertise. This will convey the message that we are not in distress mode and at the same time are also helping him out so that when the times are good he comes back to us with positive feel good factor. “Competitiveness in business has been high as people are ready to strip to the core in desperation. Resellers are losing their cool and leading to irrational behavior. In fact I personally feel that now
is the time when one should have the courage and conviction to say no to distress selling and keep the sanctity of margins. This has to be done collectively to enable to stop this downward spiral”, says Kapur of PCAIT and Green Vision.
Drivers for building customer loyalty Digit Channel Connect surveyed 42 channel partners, SIs and VARs and some key IT vendors. There was common consensus that the key to gaining customer loyalty lies in providing value adds that will make customers coming back for more. They said that customers are on an optimisation mode and are waiting to buy the cheapest and lowest level products and solutions. They are negotiating very hard to get the best bang for their buck.
Large Format Retailers pose as a big threat to the channel fraternity Prashanth Lahoti, CEO, Access 2 Future
Mehta of Future Business Tech is planning to manage the after-sales service remotely for their customers as it will ensure greater customer satisfaction and reduced cost for doing it. His company…. has an account manager deployed to every account to help customers optimise their IT spent with the help of technology experts for various technologies. He is also looking at working closely with our customers and helping them reduce their costs by suggesting the right solutions. Future Tech has a state-of-the-art POCC (proof of concept centre) at its corporate office which has technologies deployed such as server and storage virtualisation on a live site which can be remotely demonstrated through an IP camera placed in the datacentre and can be fully managed. They have done this as new customers get a lot of confidence when they see such technology live, particularly the SMB customers as they can relate their requirement with the one deployed here. Pramod Agashe, Chief Operating Officer, APW President Systems suggests that channel partners need to ensure customer satisfaction by providing thought leadership through technology innovation and creating excitement through customer-delighting marketing initiatives. He also says that quick response to customer needs and no compromises on after sales support is a sure way to create loyal customers. Loyalty programmes are also a good option. A foolproof way to get customer loyalty is to find means to reward customers through tangible measures. A well-designed loyalty program would help set the goals to make it happen on-going basis. It can take many different forms -maybe a membership model, a rewards-and-discounts model, special schemes and so on. Always transparent business practices and clear transactions help keep customers loyal to channel partners. The trust is more important than the price. This trust cannot be established overnight. Consistently effective customer service is needed to create that relationship. Deepak Gupta, Country Manager-India, Zotac says that it is critical to find the exact customer need and act as consultants and provide them with the most apt solutions. “Offer them appropriate product
“Quick response to customer needs and no compromises on after sales support is a sure way to create loyal customers” Pramod Agashe, Chief Operating Officer APW President Systems
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cover story Customer value addition and innovation is the key to retention and loyalty
12%
6%
IT vendors
94% Strongly feel
6%
12%
94% Strongly feel
88% Strongly feel 88% Strongly feel
Channel partners
Unethical practices are a major challenge in meeting customer needs – especially during the times of recession
20% Disagree 80% Agree
Channel partners
Financial indiscipline and increased competitiveness – in order to capture higher market share – lead to unethical business behaviour IT vendors
24% Disagree 24% Disagree 76% Agree
76% Agree
14% Disagree 14% Disagree 86% Agree
86% Agree
Channel partners
which can handle tomorrow’s technology as well meet today’s wants. Provide them the right product at the right price and offer satisfactory after sales support.” To attract new customers the channel partners should focus on the high growth sectors and expand to newer markets. Partners should look at providing special offers for competitive cross selling through the distributors, vendors and resellers. One area that needs to paid attention to is referral schemes through existing customers. In an attempt to add value in his offering for his customers, Mehta has made changes in his go-to-market strategy and is in the process of enhancing his employee skillsets to address the need of the market. “Our focus is to maximise our share in an account with the vast portfolio of products and services that we offer.” Anil Gupta, Head of National Sales, Microworld says that it is critical
to sell security as a solution and not as a product. Channel partners need to help with the installation and provide demonstrations of products. “Lot of partners miss out on sending information on vendor alerts such as patches/updates for the product to the customer. This needs to be taken care of to ensure loyalty. It is also important to provide advanced information on renewals and special upgrades that will benefit the customer.” Only those players will be able to survive who will work innovatively and will be able to offer value to the customer, no short-cuts will work this time. It is also crucial to keep looking for best practices adopted by various successful players and also see new means of adding value to the customers n maneka.tanwani@9dot9.in
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The focus of Channel Champs has always been to keep the interest of both the channel community and the sponsors in mind. Time and again, target audiences have told the magazine that they have definitely found some value-add in the proceedings and that they would attend in the future
Rajan Sharma General Manager - Sales and Marketing, Gigabyte
The entire Channel Champs experience was enriching. We covered 50 cities, spanning locations from B, C and D class cities across India. Our main objective was to make Gigabyte presence felt in the Indian channel community. This has helped us reach our partners channel in better and positive way. Channel Champs proved as a catalyst to educate partners about our technology and products. We are sure this will help in our future. We would like to further strengthen our reach and base in channel through this program. We will strive to ensure that our new technologies like EES, Dual BIOS and Ultra Durable 3 are understood by our channel partners. Non-metro locations are key business growth areas for us in 2009. We assure our channel partners that we will strive and work towards meeting RoI goals for them in their business initiatives for Gigabyte.
Pawan Awasthi Marketing Manager, NVIDIA
cities RAJKOT BHA V NA G A R AH M DABAD BA R ODA BHA R U C H S U R AT V AP I S O L APU R K O L HAPU R PUNE AH M EDNA G A R AU R AN G ABAD NA S I K T R I C HU R / T H R I S S U R COCHIN T R I V END R U M K O T T AYA M K OZH I K ODE / C A L I C U T K ANNU R M AN G A L O R E M AD G AON HUB L I BE L G AU M BA R E I L LY S HAH R ANPU R C HAND I G A R H
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PA T I A L A BHA T I NDA L UDH I ANA J A L ANDHA R AMRITSAR Vizag V ij a y w a d a P o n d ic h e rr y T ir u c h ir a p a lli T ir u n a lv e lli
may 2009
Raipur Pat n a Kanpur Gaziabad Dehradun Indore M EE R U T S ON I PA T R OH T A K AGRA A L L AHABAD G O R A K HPU R V A R ANA S I J A M S HEDPU R T I R UPA T I Pa n i pat Karnal C h a n d ig a r h P a ti a l a B h a ti n d a Monga P h agwa ra Amrits a r Jodhpur B h o pa l Jabalpur
I was extremely satisfied with the response that my organisation received from the channel community members. There was great enthusiasm on part of the crowd. It was a very interactive session. I am sure that it will help us a great deal in boosting the growth of our organisation and create profitable business opportunities for our channel partners.
Himanshu Kalani, Area Sales Manager, LG
Digit Channel Champs was a very good initiative and the best part was the level of interaction with all participating companies and the local associations. We were pleased by the response from the community at large. This programme helped us reach tier two and tier three cities in a much effective way.
datacentre business
strategic datacentre
The
Today’s datacentre managers are often saddled with the huge responsibilities of having to cut costs, maximise efficiency, reduce complexities and still meet it goals. So what is the way out?
T
oday’s datacentre managers are often saddled with the huge responsibilities of having to cut costs, maximise efficiency, reduce complexities and still meet it goals. So what is the way out? Many years ago, I was asked to be a consultant for a datacentre build project for one of our prestigious clients. We ventured into that and made one as per the client’s requirement which was more of a ‘glorified computer room’ next to the IT department. The decision to build a captive datacentre was a regular scenario as there was very limited choice on commercial datacenters in India to cater to the high availability and security requirements for a typical enterprise. This was a story dated more than a decade, and now we have many players in the market who offer innovative solutions in the datacentre space. The interesting fact is that the complexity of building and operating a datacentre is also increased manyfold. The business environment also changed dramatically over the last decade and CIOs are challenged to manage the ‘unexpected’ and what is puzzling is that the IT systems are expected to respond to the changed business logic without (or limited) intervention.
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Datacentre design A mid/large size datacentre is built with a fairly large investment and is expected to be sustainable for at least 10-15 years with ( or without) a technology refresh. This means the design should be modular, scalable and sustainable to give flexibility. Sizing of infrastructure is one of the most important elements which directly have a significant impact on the cost. Datacentre design requires expertise from various domains such as mechanical, electrical, architectural and Information Technology. With the increased complexities, the basic parameters to be considered while designing a datacentre are: Redundancy: The level of backup required for each critical component in the datacentre. This can be decided based on the downtime possible for the facility and the number of times the maintenance window can be taken in a year, among other parameters. There are designs where the secondary component becomes operational instantly in the event of a primary failure. Maintainability: The ability to perform routine maintenance on any component without affecting the mission or processes of vital IT functions.
datacentre business CADE: A new standard for datacentre energy efficiency With formal lines of responsibility in place, we believe a mandate to double energy efficiency by 2012 is the quickest and easiest way to improve an organisation’s return on assets and reduce GHG emissions. Such a goal we believe is not only achievable for most organizations but has the advantage of setting clear direction for the company while significantly lowering cost. To achieve this doubling of energy efficiency, McKinsey proposes that CIOs, equipment manufacturers, and industry groups, in dialog with regulators, adopt a new Corporate Average Datacenter Efficiency (CADE) metric to measure the individual and combined energy efficiency of corporate, public sector and 3rd party hosted datacenters. Similar to the automotive style “CAFE” standards, CADE measures datacentre efficiency across the entire corporate footprint. Compared to other industry metrics, CADE is the first standard to combine facilities with IT, offering a much needed double lens. To measure how effectively the datacentre uses energy coming into the facility, CADE takes the amount of power consumed by IT, or the IT Load, and divides it by the total power consumed by the datacentre. To determine how fully the physical equipment installed at the facility level is being used, the CADE formula divides the IT Load by the facility’s total capacity. This Facility Efficiency measure is then multiplied by the average CPU server utilisation and yields the organisation’s CADE rating. Each datacentre is measured independently with a weighted average value based upon installed facility capacity. Since datacenters may draw upon different sources of energy, CADE can be used to determine the relative “cleanliness” of the company’s GHG emissions. CADE confers a number of advantages. In contrast to other industry metrics, CIOs, CEOs and Boards now have a single, integrated metric that combines facility and IT energy efficiency levels to evaluate the total performance of their information factories. Just as the automotive industry can point to the miles per gallon their vehicles achieve, senior leadership can use CADE to reveal just how much efficiency their capital intensive data centers are driving. Most importantly, CADE is a metric that can propel tangible action. To set targets for improvement, we have established five CADE Tiers as illustrated in Exhibit (X). Data centers operating at Level 1 have a CADE rating of 0-5 prercent and are weakest from a point of view of efficiency. Centers operating at Level 5 are maximally efficient and have CADE ratings greater than 40 prercent. While most organisations are likely to fall within the lower bounds initially, leadership can use CADE tiering to establish performance goals. An organisation currently at CADE Level 1, for instance, could seek to increase efficiency and move to Level 2 within 18 months. The ranges themselves will flux as more organizations seek to standardize upon them. Since the results are measurable, performance becomes easier to gauge across the organisation as well as among individual data centers. CADE has the potential to make a significant contribution to the datacentre community. Our hope is that industry, regulatory and government bodies will adopt CADE as a key metric in measuring datacentre efficiency and use performance against CADE standards as a means of developing appropriate incentives and penalties.
Flexibility: The ability to anticipate future changes in space, communications, power density or cooling, and to respond to these changes without affecting critical applications. Security: The level of protection required from security breaches and man-made threats. The level of protection from physical forces and natural disasters is also a key consideration. This translates into n+1 or 2(n+1) redundancy levels and automated, integrated BMS and monitoring systems for the entire datacentre infrastructure. Hence the effective use of tools would provide insight into the capacity utilisation and performance levels of various components in the datacentre. As all of us know, today’s computing fabric demands power and produces significantly more heat than its predecessors. As the technology keeps getting smaller and smaller, these power needs and by-product heat dissipation becomes more complex. Electrical energy becoming one of the top operational expenditures, design and operations should always focus on how effective and efficient these systems could be. The
high rise in energy consumption and rising energy costs has made datacentre managers incline towards energy efficiency to reduce the cost, manage capacity and take eco-friendly measures. The awareness on global warming and reduction of carbon footprint as part of the CSR initiative for many matured organisations and the right datacentre strategy holds significant importance in corporate governance. Today datacentres are measured or benchmarked based on PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and DCE ( Data Centre Efficiency). Power usage efficiency can range from 1.0 to infinity. Ideally, a PUE value approaching 1.0 would indicate 100 percent efficiency. Today many datacentres run on an average PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 2 to 2.5. Another important aspect is the operations and maintenance of a datacentre. This brings attention to the tools, processes and skilled manpower to bring in the right efficiency. Environmental maintenance like power, temperature, humidity etc are crucial for running the datacentre smoothly. There are many CFD-based tools available today which can provide simulated environments which help datacentre managers to predict and manage the environment better. Increasingly, organisations are recognising the benefits of co-locating their mission-critical equipment within a commercial datacentre. Co-location is becoming popular because of the time and cost savings a company can realise as result of using shared datacentre infrastructure. Additionally, customers free up their internal networks for other uses. Moreover, by outsourcing network traffic to a co-location service provider with greater bandwidth capacity, application access speeds could improve considerably. Today there are commercial datacentres that provides various services on a ‘pay-and-use’ model. Services like SaaS (Software as a Service), bandwidth on demand, storage on demand etc., which effectively exploit virtualisation technologies are gaining momentum and it gives significant flexibility and scalability for enterprises to drive their business objectives. I won’t be surprised if the next generation datacentres could come up in remote corners of the country to contain the rising real estate cost and it could be a reality as long as the network can follow. Access to alternate source of power like solar or wind power could have significant positive impact on this. Operating IT or non-IT equipment at the optimal performance levels, predictable operations and maintenance expenses are key success factors for datacentre operations. Need, calendar and/or criticality based preventive maintenance schedules can significantly reduce operational expenses and can correct potential problems before they occur. The datacentre market has matured today and there are many matured service providers in the market with significant scale, better efficiency and thrust on technical innovation. The fears of running mission-critical business applications on shared infrastructure are no longer valid and rather it gives competitive advantage and reduces time to market. Customer organisations can focus on their business innovation rather than worry about IT infrastructure complexities and its rising operational expenses.
Datacentre: A crucial link The high-availability datacentre contributes to the following elements: Resilience: Infrastructure resilience (network, storage, computing platforms, facility), application resilience (load balancing, clustering), and data replication and mirroring. Management: Capacity and performance management, and automated service provisioning to sustain high availability levels. Operations: Operational processes and business-continuity planning. Infrastructure: The supporting technologies, including the underlying network transport, communications, storage, computing platforms and facilities.
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business strategy
Leading the change The range of possible futures confronting business is great. Companies that nurture flexibility, awareness, and resiliency are more likely to survive the crisis, and even prosper The known The financial electricity that drives our global economy is not working well. Turning it back on isn’t just a matter of flicking a switch, as central banks and governments have tried to do by providing liquidity, guaranteeing debt, and injecting capital into banks. We must repair the grid itself significantly, and this will require coordinated global action. No one designed the global capital market, but it has been a boon to humanity, stimulating globalisation and growth by enabling the free international flow of capital and trade. The financial crisis of 2008 severely damaged this useful system. Through greed, neglect, or ignorance, the participants abused it until they broke some of its basic mechanisms. The implications are far reaching. Most obviously, congestion in the global capital market is exacerbating the US domestic credit crisis. That crisis has spread globally, hitting Europe especially hard. Banks until recently have been scrambling for deposits to replace sources of funding such as direct-issue commercial paper, medium-term notes, and asset-backed paper. The search for deposits is required to finance existing loans, and borrowers will need significantly more of them because all but the strongest have, like the banks, lost access to the securities markets. The US government, in particular, has aggressively tried to address this problem through huge liquidity programs, such as the purchase of mortgage- and other asset-backed securities. But it remains to be seen how effective those efforts will be in mitigating the credit crunch. The global capital market crisis worsens this credit crunch by sending into reverse the dynamic of cross-border investment and trade flows. A dollar of capital must finance every dollar of trade, so the global capital market has stimulated the international exchange of goods and services. It has facilitated cross-border investments—in intellectual property, talent, brands, and networks—that help economies and companies grow and profit, and it has enabled the companies that make
such investments to repatriate their profits. In short, global integration and growth will revive only if the global capital market does. Yet it has sustained a body blow that will have repercussions for years, even if international leaders make the necessary long-term adjustments.
The unknown Yet there is much that we don’t know, and won’t for some time: how well will governments work together to develop effective regulatory, trade, fiscal, and monetary policies; what will these responses mean for the long-term health of the global capital market; how will its health or weakness influence the pace and extent of change in areas such as the economic role of government, financial leverage, and business models; and what will all this imply for globalisation and economic growth? Although these questions won’t be answered in the short or even the medium term, decisions made in the immediate future are critical, for they will influence how well organisations manage themselves now and compete over the longer haul. The winners will be companies that make thoughtful choices—despite the complexity, confusion, and uncertainty—by assessing alternative scenarios honestly, considering their implications, and preparing accordingly. In particular, organisations must think expansively about the possibilities. Even in more normal times, the range of outcomes most companies consider is too narrow. The assumptions used for budgeting and business planning are often modest variations on baseline projections whose major assumptions often are not presented explicitly. Many such budgets and plans are soon overtaken by events. In good times, that matters little because companies continually adapt to the environment, and budgets usually build in conservative assumptions so managers can beat their numbers. But these are not normal times: the range of potential outcomes—the uncertainty surrounding the global credit crisis and the global recession—is so large that many companies may not survive. We can capture this wide range of outcomes in four scenarios (exhibit).
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business strategy Leading through uncertainty These descriptions are intentionally stylised to enliven them; many permutations are possible. Scenarios for any company and industry should of course be tailored to individual circumstances. What we hope to illustrate is the importance for strategists of considering previously unthinkable outcomes, such as the rollback of globalisation. Unappealing as three of the four scenarios may be, any company
More r esilient
A crisis is that sap a chance to b Such m the productiv reak ingrained oves ar ity and structu en a year o e r r more ’t a short-term ffectiveness o es and behav and co io t f many o c risis res uld help pay dividen organis rs ponse— ds—bu employ a a tions. c o t m h ey p t e manag es may dislike any survive if are valuable in often take ement h t a a h rd tim ny sce is app aims to make t roach, most es persist. Alt nario This ma he orga will und hough y, for ex nisation er tional s more e stand why tructur ample, be the es, retro ffective encum time to . b fi profess er companies tted with ad h destroy the ve ionals w r large an oc and t ic a l o rganiza and un matrix ith seve d small c o sales, a lear decisions ral competing . Such structu verlays, that r nd geo a e b r s e o c s c a s o n e m s g burden for info . Intern raphic mon. Tu rm e m on poin ation aren’t anagers kill p rf wars betwe cine battles produc e tless e-m r o n produ mising tive, ails, tele ct p Experie phone and countles rojects. Searc , nce sho hes c s alls, an h o u r and the ws that s d meet are was ings. ted its effec way those wh streamlining a o hold tivenes n o r g a n t nated, s h is and de em coll ation th valuable e cuts mostly cision making aborate can g to define roles . When reduce reatly im work. jo unprod uctive c bs must be e prove As cust lim o omplex to gain mer preferenc ity rath ier than d e control istressed asse s change, com to econ ts emer p e t it ors falt produc ge, and omic st er, e im will belo new laggards ulus, the ne governments opportunities x , t n le y g a e d t a o ers, and r or two shift from cris compa carefull is nie in w y ness, an assess their o s whose sen dustry dynam ill probably ior exec ptions, ics. The d resilie ut at them an fu ncy nee . ded to d nurture the ives remain ca ture deal wit lm, flexibilit h what ever th y, awaree world throws
that sets its strategy without taking all of them into account is flying blind. So executives need a way of operating that’s suited to the most uncertain business environment. They need greater flexibility to create strategic and tactical options they can use defensively and offensively as conditions change. They need a sharper awareness of their own and their competitors’ positions. And they need to make their organisations more resilient.
ware a e r o M d dels an ess mo ely in s u b e t ra ak nd rem s, s despe estroy a ns, companie fits, cash flow d it d re io c ro h t p a it h , it s lu W t . a w s s lems aws v es, co nario As prob olatility whips their revenu r different sce n as they w v e ve o t d e h e n t k d s u r re tan ma wor s, for unders ts will fa ve year for the need to balance shee tives can plan d more than fi r the bankd e u risks, an rmation, exec recession last it prepared fo ding quickly? Is n e that info the best. If th pany survive? lve capital spe ared and to r a p m h fo o re c it e p e p r th uld That ho tte , could ers? Co loping. o be be example f major custom companies t enario is deve pear quickly lp sc o ruptcy ers should he ssible, which ad times disap before the o w t le s p n n s a The they ac , whe arly a ise, as e dge in a crisis itiative only if e. n g o c re le in outcom ciize the al know ctive de is critic panies can se s the probable ore effe into the d m n m o a t c r, s e r d t e s n d a hts orld un motes fa out in insig entire w ence pro can often ga ews reports ab ig ll e t in s n mpanie usiness ighing rmation Better b ing as well. Co petitors by we d private info intelligence k n a m a h , c o rs. Su ce between sion m l moves of c alyst reports supplie n n potentia ivities, stock a ustomers and ke the differe ping in to a c a t their ac by talking to crisis it can m assets and le d a d e s re in s e ; t h re t n t ta ga dis ts impor to buy ed a ne is alway opportunities nies ne the top. a g p in m s o is c m m ce, t fro em. telligen ears” suppor snare th siness in e with strong ting “eyes and s u b f o u d a n c in o re fo k e c f his om de so To get t ically led by s e should inclu articular area ell as gatherp p t y w a t and ), as ies in inforwork, utive’s m and geograph se to the crisis itical because n c e x e is cr on es Th ow n’s resp usiness twork is p and d across b the competitio rmation. A ne st vertically, u fo s (such a xchanging in it moves not ju e . ing and most useful if o horizontally is ls a n t io u t b a n, m anisatio the org
Compa n strateg ies must now ic-actio take a m np and sho w how lans, not just ore flexible ap it can m p o ake the ne. Every plan roach to plann These p most o lans can f a spec should embra ing: each of th the bro c ific eco e ad rang ’t be academic nomic e e all of the fun m should dev e risk tak e nvironm ctions, ing, and of plausible o exercises; exe busines lop several co cu even da u ent. re h s units, ily “all h source alloca tcomes in tod tives must be and ge erent, multipro ay re ands on tio ograph Greater deck” m n by senior e ’s business en ady to pursue ies of a nged v xecutiv fl eetings compan es. A co ironment call any of them— the futu exibility also t o e x y c s for a “ mpany means hange quickly re beco ju ’s in d — for inst m e s 1 fo t v a 0 e in e r s s mation to 20 to loping t more ce t h im e ance, a fu e ” tu a as m and ma p rta n os? If o ke fast managers, fo pproach to str re unfolds. In ne or m d how much c in. Often, opt any options a operatio fact, at r examp ions wil s possib apital a ore ma nal dec le, migh egy setting, n l jor com le As com isions. t have w petitors d manageme be offensive m that can be panies eekly o nt ex o should prepare stances r falter, h capacity wou ves. Which ac ercised either . for such q ld o w u w tivenes A crisis tends h b is o e e requir will the itions c n t r ig to surfa pportunitie s—that ger ou ed compan s, they ce optio themse organis y react? ? What new p ld be attractiv events occur sho a lv n or roducts e In whic altoget es moving wit tions ordinaril s—such as ho uld also creat h mark best fit on what term her. y would e optio w to sla h too li e s, d t s if fe c n an it ga ttle info n s in share rent scenarirmation ’t consider. Un h structural co s to maintain g ? sts whil less exe ood he or prep alt e c aration and the utives evaluat minimising da h under diffic e their ult circu refore m mage t op o m ake fau lty decis tions early on, long-term com they co ions, de petiuld lay actio n, or fo later find rgo opt ions
More fl
exible
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Q&A
“Innovation
puts us way ahead of
the competition” New Delhi-based Unistal Systems, provider of data care, data recovery, anti-virus and Internet security products and services was established in 1994. Since then the company has grown manifolds and has carved out a niche for itself in the data recovery space in India. Charu Khera speaks to Alok Gupta, MD, Unistal Systems DCC: Unistal was established at a time when people were unaware that data recovery was possible. While today Unistal has well established itself in the field of data recovery. How did you mange to address this huge knowledge gap? Since the inception of Unistal Systems in 1994, our sole agenda has been to provide best solutions to customers. The term ‘data recovery’ was not even thought of at the time when Unistal was established, but we tried hard to bring out various possibilities of creating awareness among data users about it. The modus operandi adopted was seminars, advertisements in different magazines, articles, etc. Moreover, with the boon of Internet, we launched e-Promotional activities, training modules, etc. which helped people understand the possibility and concept of data recovery. We tried reaching the masses in every way possible and believe we have. Even today we have a data recovery training program through our websites.
DCC: In the backdrop of ever-increasing information, in the event of a disaster, enterprises tend to lose important data. How does Unistal help enterprises protect and manage this data? Data today is more prevalent in a digital format; and people prefer having soft copies of their data. Data is not only important for enterprise but also for every home user. Protecting and recovering data has been the prime agenda and USP of Unistal. We have, with the efforts of our well-managed developers, designed softwares like Crash Proof (a data
loss prevention software). It works pro-actively and protects data from crashing. We try and prevent disasters to hamper the efficient working of enterprises. We have a user number of over three million licenses till now and can confidently say we saved three million data loss incidents from occurring. Even then if data is lost where Crash Proof was not installed, we have a range of quick recovery software catering to most operating systems. Moreover, our data care software act as a utility to the user.
DCC: Give us a brief about your clientele. Do you currently focus on any particular vertical? We cater to all verticals in the market. Our product range provides solutions to SOHO client to large government enterprises to multinationals to IT firms. There is no limit to data and so we believe that there is no limit to giving solutions to our clients as well. Our solutions are available for everyone who values data and cares whether it is in safe hands.
DCC: How many branch offices do you currently have in India? Do you plan to expand internationally? We have four regional offices apart from direct presence in 15 locations to support entire Indian market. We already have international presence in UAE and Netherlands and also have exports through our online sales to more than 150 countries. We do intend to increase our global presence as we believe there is tremendous potential ahead and we would not like to miss an opportunity to
reach out to all people who are in need of a good name to rely on.
DCC: Unistal has hundred service labs strategically located across India. How crucial is servicing a part of your business strategy? A strong backbone support helps a man stand, sit, walk and run. Similarly a good back-end support of dedicated service is the key to success for any organisation. We have been successful in doing so for these many years and are recognised as the best in the business in terms of providing service to our users. Software firm with a good supporting service is a recipe of winners.
DCC: Share with us the blueprint of how you have built innovation in addressing customers’ needs. Yes, indeed innovation is one element that puts us way ahead in the competition. With new products you get an advanced move and a step closer to customer. We have kept it a point that each time a customer feels the need of buying something better/new solution, we will give him. When anti-virus trend emerged in India, we gave Internet security to them, and today we provide them solutions like total security etc. Customer looks for many things in a product and we offer them the best range in terms of bundled products. Protegent, the latest brand of Unistal promises to give its customers more in just one pack. It not only gives Internet security but also utilities like locate laptop, port locker and backup solution. n
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celebrity connect
y celebrit connect “Canon has been present in India for the past 11 years and has established brand equity as a complete digital imaging company. As we are working to increase Canon’s market share in India, we chose to rope in Sachin Tendulkar, who represents and reflects the ideals of our company. Canon stands for a perfect mix of performance, care and reliability. Sachin is a national hero with universal appeal, who compliments our brand values of being trustworthy and innovative. His consistency and appeal reflect the dependability and excellence that Canon stands for. Sachin is the pulse of India who appeals to all segments of the Indian society—young and old, urban and rural, fashion-conscious and the intelligentsia. We feel that he can connect and carry on our image very well to the ‘middle of the pyramid’. Canon as a brand has gained a lot of reputation and goodwill as today it is associated with Sachin Tendulkar who is one of the heroes of the nation. Sachin is known to be a technology enthusiast and a delighted Canon user himself. He has been the carrier of our message of cutting-edge technology products and reliable service to consumers across India. Our Channel Partners have shown immense faith in us by nurturing the relationship we have with them. We are extremely grateful to them for the trust and support they have provided us with, in all these years of our partnership. Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India
“Sachin’s image is that of the non-controversial, honest, sincere, straight forward, down to earth, and a family guy which has great synergies with the brand characteristics of Canon. The message - “The best can only endorse the best” has worked well for Canon amongst consumers.” Anup Kanodia, Capital Photo, Kolkata
“Appointing celebrities as brand ambassador help building brand loyalty, as when the consumer sees an advertisement of a brand with their favorite celebrity, there is utmost possibility that the consumer liking towards the brand will increase. In case of Canon also, Sachin has given it more visibility and the brand is noticed everywhere as he is noticed.” Dilip Kumar K, ACDC Corp, Chennai
“Sachin Tendulkar is a national icon and he has made us proud. When we think of Sachin, we think of reliability, great performance and trust. The best benefit, which Canon received by appointing Sachin as its brand ambassador is a lot of confidence within the audience for the brand.” Manoj Gupta, Challenger Computer, Noida
“Sachin as an individual has been known for his perfection, quality and reliability of performance. People attribute these qualities to Sachin and having him as brand ambassador has helped translating the same attributes to Canon, thereby gaining market share. Having Sachin as the brand ambassador has helped Canon gain the trust and reliability, which people have for Sachin.” Ashwin Kukreja, Real Time Computers, Mumbai
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insights Marketing 2.0: By the masses
I
t has been said before, and it is worth repeating a million times. It does not take an MBA—nor a complete reading of your latest Philip Kotler to keep a tab on what marketing strategy to adopt to boost your image, market your brand, push a product or sell a service. But the moot question is, just what does it take to be a marketing expert? Marketers are coming up with some innovative solutions—and the train of thinking is leading to some solutions which are path-breaking, to say the least. Take a market like the USA. Consumers there have oodles and oodles of ‘marketing’ chutzpah—thanks to the constant hammering of various marketing programs, the incessant bombarding of high-profile advertising campaigns and what have you. And now, marketing gurus are rushing back to the drawing board. “What,” is the collective whisper that’s arising, “if we cut out the middleman?” It’s simple: consumers have now figured out how it’s done. Some big-ticket names are now getting into the act. And they want their loyal clientele to define the rules and lay the
foundation for a strong brand. And consumers are biting. As marketing
PRASHANT KUNCOLIENKAR CEO, COMPUTRONICS INFOTECH, goa
outfits are looking at customers to define their marketing strategy.
“We believe that by keeping our existing customers happy, they will talk good about us. Instead of talking about price first, we emphasise on after-sales service and quality of products. We act as consultants to our clients and advice them on solutions that fits their exact need. A satisfied customer will always recommend us to others”
gurus have said, the best brands are owned by people who love them. The customer is king, as the old adage goes, and never has it been truer. It is not just the big marketing conglomerates who are defining the game. Small entrepreneurs and even smaller mom-and-pop
The writing is on the wall, so to speak; it has never been more lucid. The customer is queen; she rules the roost. So is it time for the Indian channel community to go back to the basics? Watch this space for much, much more as Digit Channel Connect keeps you tuned in.
A well-balanced life
L
ife at the helm of an IT solution firm may be a status symbol for some, passion for a few and a serious business-impacting agenda for others. Whatever be the reason, the sheer pressure of the task is extremely demanding. Typically when one starts a business in India, it is unlike what happens in western countries – with a career counselor who will coach the basics of managing the entrepreneur life, offering strategy advice, managing people and finance, persuading and leading sales and marketing teams. The breed of entrepreneurs are highly motivated self-made folk who have little professional help and at time minimum education. The result is an entire breed of business owners who have little time for pleasure or family, are mostly stressed out and easily agitated. It is at later stages of these highly motivated men and women when life hits them hard – health and family issues, badly managed household, losing on the finer points of life itself. What is required is to have a clear understanding of a healthy work-life balance. If need be these business owners should hire professional help. These consultants can help in being career coaches by helping the business and later help balance work and personal priorities, teaching simple things like how to
33
Dr S Philip Lewis Proprietor, Electro Mech Corporation, Bangalore
Balancing your work and family effectively depends on your mindset. Time management is an important factor. Commitment, sincerity, hard work and dedication are the order of the day. That is the only way to lead a stress-free life. I believe that the laziest man is always the busiest man. Plan well and you will have time for family, work and relaxation.
create a manageable to-do list. “Once you have your priorities in place and learn to manage the business and personal matters, you just find yourselves around people who want what you want out of life,” says Samuel Kurien, a small-time business owner from Kochi, “I have started working four days a week instead of seven and have three hobbies to my credit.” Some simple Monday morning things-todo are to ensure that you make the to-list, stick to it and manage time. Time management plays an extremely key role here. Prepare a
weekly plan for pleasure and family and keep it as a top priority along the lines of business priorities. For a healthy work-life balance it is extremely important to have an ethical means of business – commitment, honestly, people-orientation and dedication are key. Business growth, specially in situations when economic conditions are not favourable, will depend on these factors. It is time to take that break and introspect – are you doing justice to yourself?
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analyst speak Commercial e-mail market will see a big SaaS platform adoption by the end of 2012 The Software as a Service (SaaS) model for e-mail solutions is proving attractive for many customers and will represent 20 percent of the commercial e-mail market by the end of 2012 wherein the same in 2007 represented only one percent, says Gartner
A
nalysts say that the impact of the SaaS model for e-mail will have direct and material consequences for traditional third-party product vendors, effectively cutting the addressable market for traditional third-party applications by one-fifth. However, by 2012, the move to the SaaS model for email will create opportunities for new thirdparty applications. “The lost opportunity to the traditional third-party market may be more than 20 percent because the earliest adopters of the e-mail SaaS model are small or midsize businesses (SMBs), which can represent up to 40 percent of the market when measured by the number of companies which are likely prospects,” said Matt Cain, Research Vice President, Gartner. “However, SMBs are less likely to buy third-party tools compared to larger organisations.” There are four general categories within the third-party community for e-mail services that will be affected to a greater or lesser extent by the move to the SaaS model for e-mail.
Applications core to running premises-based e-mail Examples include disaster recovery, reporting, backup, spam and virus filtering. In this case, the need for most third-party management applications goes away in a SaaS deployment as the vendor provides all core level two and three help desk duties, supplies all required services for redundancy and recovery, provides all reporting options, performs all version upgrade functions, and protects the perimeter with its own spam and virus filters.
Applications that extend the core services of the e-mail platform Examples include mobility, fax, archive and encryption. Most SaaS vendors offer archive and encryption services, although they may source them from a third party. Fax services can fare better; in some cases a native SaaS implementation exists, and in others, customer-side fax services will be integrated with a SaaS system.
Client-side applications Examples include PST management and email efficiency add-ins. There will be no immediate impact on vendors that work on the client side of the
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e-mail SaaS equation because the present paradigm is for rich clients to access SaaS resources. The longer-term concern, however, is that the prevalent storage model will move from the client (PST) to a server side storage model — hence eliminating the need for PST management tools altogether — and the default access mechanism moves to the browser, away from “fat” client access.
Applications needed for SaaS implementations Examples include premises and SaaS management tools and premises-to-SaaS migration tools. This is where the move to the SaaS model
will create some new demands for thirdparty tools as companies look for tools that help them perform single seat management and provisioning of premises-based and SaaS services, known as a hybrid model. There are also opportunities for vendors to facilitate migration from the premises to the SaaS platform — an area ripe for exploration by third parties. “In many ways, e-mail is the “litmus test” for the SaaS model, disrupting a pre-existing set on on-premises-related businesses. We can expect similar third-party dynamics to occur in adjacent collaboration spaces, such as instant messaging and virtual workspaces”, says Cain. n