Lage Raho Alokbhai; you are on the right path

There is one channel partner who none of the software vendors in the country
like. In fact, some of them have in the past issued ads in the newspapers saying
he is not their partner. Others simply refuse to engage with him in any way.
But, I count him as a very close friend.

The man in question is Alok Gupta who runs a software reselling business in
Delhi by the name of Softmart Solutions. He is without doubt the most well known
name when it comes to selling software products. He sells software in big
numbers. His customers love him for the kind of service he provides and also the
competitively pricing, which he sells at. Despite that, all the software vendors
hate him.

Now, that is something, which is very surprising. Why should vendors hate
somebody who sells legal software packages in big numbers and has a loyal
customer base? They hate him because of his guts. According to Alok, vendors
have a faulty pricing policy in India. The pricing of software products in most
of the cases is much higher than the corresponding prices in the US and other
western countries. And he doesn't mince words questioning the policy.

Asim Raina Editor

I for one am in complete agreement with Alok. I think that he certainly
raises valid points, something that concerns the industry. Unfortunately,
vendors don't see it that way and except for few he doesn't have too much
support from his fellow brethren also. Most of them think that he raises issues
unnecessarily.

The fact of the matter is that the issues he raises are perfectly valid. Most
vendors have their head buried in sand like an ostrich. They just don't want
to understand what is happening and are content in their own world. For
instance, once one of my reporters contacted a prominent software company-which
has a monopoly in its segment-for its comments regarding software pricing. The
channel head of that company called me to try and get the story dropped. When I
politely refused, he became very angry and abusive and charged me with not
knowing my job. I had to remind him that he had not bothered to attend even a
single channel event organized by us in the last four-five years and the fact
that he hardly knew any channel partner beyond the few in the metros.

This incident clearly shows where the problem lies. So, if Alok is
questioning something, he is perfectly justified and well within his rights to
do so. For that, his fellow partners should support him whole-heartedly as the
issue doesn't concern him alone. In fact, the channel community should tell
him-Lage Raho Alokbhai-and then march in step.