Etheract set to challenge Autodesk in the CAD space

03 Mar 2005 00:00 IST

New Update

CAD vendor Etheract is gearing up to challenge the market leader Autodesk
with its aggressive pricing and channel strategy. Though a new entrant to the
Indian market, the company has already put a channel network in place by
appointing SES Technologies as its national disty and another 35 partners as
VAR. The company would be adding 20 more VARs by mid-2005. On pricing front too,
it is offering its products like Cadlab Pro and visualization software Wow
Studio at 30-40% cost of its competitors like Autodesk and SolidWorks.

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"With all the functionalities that are currently available in offerings
of our competition, our products come at 30% of their cost," claimed Chetan
Venkatesh, CEO, Etheract. He further informs that with this pricing strategy the
company is well placed to tap the large SME segment, which so far primarily uses
pirated versions of AutoCAD. "And our channel network will play a very
significant role in tapping this opportunity," added he.

CHETAN VENKATESH

To tap the SME segment with product cost at 30%-40% lower than to that of competitors

Etheract now wants to appoint more vertical-centric partners, who have strong
domain expertise in the construction and mechanical engineering space. "We
would also be strengthening our enterprise sales team, which would be
responsible for developing direct business from large customers," stated
Chetan. Currently the ratio of channels to direct business for Etheract is
70:30. "We are also launching initiatives to enable our partners for
offering support/services as well as acting as our authorized training
providers. This will help them add to the 10-13% margin that we currently offer
them on product sale," elaborated he.

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Etheract claims its solutions to be completely compatible with AutoCAD
including very old versions of the same, enabling "seamless migration for
customers while ensuring better ROIs".

In the coming months, it is also planning to host a range of channel as well
as end-user roadshows and seminars. Etheract has also put up support centers in
Chennai, Bangalore and Pune and would be shortly opening one in Delhi.

GOLDIE