D-Link launches first green managed switch

Networking major href="http://www.dqweek.com/D-Link-slashes-price-of-its-routers-by-20">D-Link
India recently
announced the launch of a green managed Ethernet switch. D-Link's
green products portfolio is labeled 'D-Link Green'. After they
came out with the green unmanaged switch in 2007 and the Web smart
switch in 2008 also under the same label, the D-Link Green Managed
Gigabit Switch is the first in the green managed switch series.
Speaking on the occasion, Gary Yang, MD, D-Link India said,
“Nowadays, href="http://dqchannels.ciol.com/content/space/110041205.asp">environmental
awareness is at an all time high and
consumers worldwide are demanding more environment-friendly and
energy-efficient products and solutions.”

The DGS-3200 series comes in 10 port,
16 port and 24 port variants. Talking about the price points for
each, Jayesh Kotak, VP-Product Marketing, D-Link India, said, “The
hardware cost for the 10 port is around Rs 20,000, the 16 port is Rs
32,000 and the 24 port device costs around Rs 55,000. We have
launched this product to target mid to large enterprise customers.”

Some of its features
include
a smart fan whose speed varies depending on the temperature, is IPv6
Phase II certified and also comes with advanced security options. It
is capable of operating in temperatures up to 50 degree Centigrade
and also in a non A/C environment, which makes it especially suitable
for the Indian climate. It saves on energy usage with its auto
detection of device link status as well as the cable length to the
terminal.

Sharing details on the
company's plans to promote the product, Kotak said, “We plan to
educate our channels as well as the end user about these products.
For our channels, we will send mailers, whitepapers and other product
presentations besides one-on-one interactions. We will also train
them as per a training calendar that we will have for this range.”
Rajesh Sahore, VP Channel, D-Link India added, “We will shortly be
beginning a process of engaging with distis to train our SI and
reseller partners on these products as well as on positioning these
in the market. Besides this we will also provide on-the-job training
for our partners across the country on various aspects of the
product.” On whether the company plans to incentivize partners for
pushing green IT, Sahore remarked, “Although it is not something we
have formally thought of, it is a good suggestion and perhaps
something we can consider for our partners.”

On plans for awareness building for the
end customer, Kotak said, “For the end user, we will create
awareness and induce purchases through promotions and introductory
offers for this product. Besides that we will look to build interest
through advertising, initially focusing on the online medium and
later on the print medium to reinforce the message. The online medium
allows more flexibility to educate the end user on what this can do
for them, product features and other relevant information they may
require and that is why we would like to go the online route to begin
with.”

The go-to-market strategy was also
highlighted by Kotak. “Generally, we used to take our green
portfolio through our partners, but since the last few quarters we
have decided to be more focused on our solution partners in taking
these green solutions to the market. Out of the 1,800 or so
registered resellers we have, we are engaging with around 200 for the
green managed switch series across the country.” Sahore noted,
“Around 30 plus percent of our total business comes from selling
solutions, another 60 percent plus comes from our box-pushing dealers
and the rest from the telecom SPs. We would be looking to talk to our
existing networking SPs as well as potential ones to sell our green
solutions,” he added.

When asked how the response to the
unmanaged and Web smart switches in the green portfolio was doing,
Kotak replied, “Our business from green thus far has been going
quite well. Out of the total number of switches we ship per month,
15-20 percent would be contributed by the green switches