D-Link to Go Passive

href="http://www.dqweek.com/D-Link-extends-its-Green-initiatives">D-Link,
one of the pioneers in
end-to-end networking solutions for consumers, SMBs and enterprises,
has strengthen its solutions portfolio and infrastructure, and is
geared to capitalize the market opportunities. With apparently a new
start and fabulous beginning in the new year, D-Link has committed
itself towards quality-driven products and solutions at a competitive
pricing with full logistics support. The company has also debuted
cloud-managed Wi-Fi access point for SMBs recently. In fact, it has
opened a new corporate property in Mumbai and a warehouse facility in
Verna, both of which hold a strategic importance for the company. The
company said that, it will be launching passive networking by the mid
of March,
2011, and has already started taking orders. With Ingram Micro and
Redington, D-Link offers elite, silver and gold partner programs, as
well as online registration for SI partners and resellers. The
networking major has not just confined to routers and switches, but
has now entered into security and surveillance with a complete
end-to-end solution portfolio. For D-Link, Indian market holds a
great potential, and there has been an upswing in demand for its
offering. The company said that, over the past five years, the
business dynamics have changed and enterprise sector has become
dependent on information. Speaking at the SP Summit 2011, Rajesh
Sahore, Sales Head-India and SAARC, D-Link said, “Despite of
budget constraints, customers want efficient network. Businesses are
getting dependent on information today." Sahore believes that
network should be scalable so that it can take up new challenges. The
company is also looking at requirements to build customized
solutions, and is expected to launch passive networking solutions,
soon. According to Sahore, end-to-end security and self vigilance has
become critical, these days. “Partners can make 15 to 20 percent
margins on security solutions and unified communications portfolio,”
he said.

After the de-merger, there has been a
demand in passive networking, and D-Link is committed to give
customers, a complete solution and the primary product line will
include Cat5 and Cat6. For this new vertical, the partners will
remain same on a broad basis but it may rope new ones as well, though
the company is still to finalize the
business strategy. D-Link has strong focus on structured cabling,
copper cables and components, and patch cards and peripherals. The
company is aggressively looking at SMBs and enterprise sector.
"D-Link is a channel-driven company. NDs are helping us to
initiate channel training programs. The company has 3,000 registered
online partners, and has more than 6,000 resellers and SIs,"
Sahore said. The company said that, as network convergence evolves
and users exchange data of increasingly rich content, network
resources can be overwhelmed. Yet all users demand high quality of
service at moderate cost, and this is one of the major challenges.
Sahore said that customers' concerns include extensive daily
operations, sophisticated information threats, security issues,
business requirements for growth and technology
innovation. For such needs, they choose secure, rapid, flexible and
cost effective solution and leverage existing  infrastructure.

The company has made a simplified
process for elite, silver and gold partners. Sis are required to get
registered online on D-Link's official
website, and once it gets approved, they can get an access to D-Link
Partner site, which helps SIs
to understand D-link products, technology, road map, comparison with
competitors and solutions guide as well as provide case studies and
marketing support. SI can log on to: http:// expertise.dlink.com.tw
and need to give DCS (D-Link Certified Specialist ) and DCP ( D-Link
Certified Professional ) online exam. Once an SI clears the exam
together with other criteria, they will be eligible to become elite,
silver and gold partners. SIs can also be eligible for special
discount from D-Link. The company offers a multitude of supporting
activities that include: events at major cities driven by D-Link
local sales team, with the help of regional distributors; roll out of
field activities; regular mailers and newsletters; and quarterly
promotional schemes. D-Link has 158 local sales offices in more than
70 countries with over 2,500 employees. It maintains regional
warehouses in 10
countries and have four R&D and 38 RMA centers. In India, the
company has direct sales presence in close to 20 cities. D-Link
offers an array of networking solutions around storage, switches,
servers, routers, broadband, firewalls, media converters, network
adapters, and voice and IP communications.