“A lot of companies think that by dropping prices, they are adding more value, but this is not true at all”

The Symantec-Veritas merger is now a year old. And the
initial teething problem of people getting used to the merged entity is over.
Vishal Dhupar MD, Symantec India talks about how Symantec would like to expand
its channel network, while assuaging fears that there will be channel
cannibalization. And Eric Hoh, VP-Asia South, Sales adds that the opportunities
in India are vast and there is enough room for more players in the channel
space.

Post the Symantec-Veritas merger, what are the key
issues that your customers have?

Vishal: Fundamentally for me, since I have joined, the number of customers and
partners I have met have been asking one similar question. Earlier we were two
separate corporations and we used to talk in two different languages that our
partners and customers got used to and they were following in similar tracks.

It was a different thing that they were both parallel
tracks moving towards the same objective, which is another analogy of it being
two sides to the same coin.

Soon, they realized that should we not be talking to the
same set of people singularly, rather than addressing them through two different
brands. And the whole conversation goes around that, which is safeguarding
information. This is such a commonsense rationale that people are finding it
very exciting.

Eric Woh: Most of our partners are asking us when they can
start going to the market with the complete suite of products from the merged
entity. These are people who could be focusing on information security, but
would like to address information availability. And this all comes down to
information integrity. And the channel is beginning to understand this and
internally, our people are also beginning to understand it.

What we have done in the past few months is educating our
channel as an extended arm of our company. We want to nurture that relationship
and grow it to provide a complete solution for information integrity.

Veritas and Symantec had their distinct channels. How
will you facilitate the assimilation of the two and also help cross-pollination
of those who would like to sell the consolidated suite?

Eric: Having a partnership is not about just buying and selling. If you want
to have a relationship, you have to help your partners to scale higher with you.
We have to look at our partners at two levels. The first is the distribution
partners. The second level is the solution provider, people who actually work
with our customers.

So our number one priority is that the tier-two partners
have a common knowledge, as they are the ones who deliver the solution to
customers. All our partners want to carry all the solutions. But we want to make
sure that they are geared up for it. Our intention in the long run is to make
sure tier-two partners have the complete range of our solutions and not just a
portion.

Won't you be overburdening them, if you insist that
they carry your entire suite?

Eric: That is why we talk about focus. It may be true that we are
overburdening them. But look at the potential in the country. Security is top
priority for every channel today. And customers want a single interface rather
than deal with several suppliers.

This is why we want to make sure that our partners fulfill
all security needs of customers. If we need to be everywhere, then we need to
have the breadth. And the only way to achieve is by educating our partners and
putting them close to the customer.

But the profile of partners who were selling Veritas
products is very different from those who were offering Symantec solutions. So
how will you have an amalgamation of these two disparate kinds of channel?

Eric: Some partners sell off the shelf and they are happy with that, while
others are looking at deployments. But if they are looking at expanding their
business, delivering solutions and holding on to their customers, then they have
to look at giving a complete portfolio. And we are in a position to offer this
to them.

We are creating a pull for our partners, with events like
Vision, where we get end-customers to come and witness what we can offer them
for information integrity.

Vishal: We have been trying to figure out what is the
market demand. And we have found out that the customer is demanding a better
value for the money that he spends.

What this means is that for every rupee that he spends,
how can I keep reducing my costs to add more value to the investment?

A lot of companies think that by dropping prices they are adding more value,
but this is not true at all. But those with evolved technology have to make sure
that they do not scare the customer with the jargon. The customer wants a simple
solution that works on the backend to address his requirement.

These are the underlined things that a customer expects
when he asks for value for money. And this is what Symantec and its partners
offer.

For Symantec, technology is our bread and butter. So we
tell our partners that we will do what we know best-create better technology
and create pull for it. And as a partner, you go and cater to the needs of the
customer using our technology and make additional profits for your business and
ours.

Every partner, based on its bandwidth and his expertise,
wants to add value to his business. And the value comes from his belief that his
core competency will be on either retailing, or in system integration or in
total solution providing. Some have the access to customers; some have the
financial muscle to work on several projects, others might have service
capability. Each has to leverage on his core competency accordingly. And this is
what we have to be sensitive about when we select partners to cross sell our
products.

VINITA BHATIA

(vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in)