“Lenovo urges enterprise customers to 'Think Large'”

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Could
you
highlight some of the current trends in the enterprise segment?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">2011
is
touted to be the year of transformation for the enterprise
segment. Enterprises are making a paradigm shift in their computing
practices towards mobility and ultra portability. Today, owing to a
highly distributed, dynamic and mobile workforce, businesses value
product quality, mobility, security and reliability more than ever
before. According to Gartner's 2011 PC forecast, worldwide
enterprise PC sales are expected to grow at a double-digit pace
through 2012, fueled by companies' need to replace aging units.
href="http://www.dqweek.com/Lenovo-India-opens-200th-LES-Lite-in-Calicut">Lenovo
prides itself on the innovation and distinct features in its
'Think' range of products. Designed to be the ultimate business
tools, our products adequately address the emerging needs of our
enterprise customers and are successful in setting standards for
enterprise computing across the globe. Engineered for a great user
experience, they are exceptionally designed to boost productivity,
enhance mobility and reduce total cost of ownership.

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">What
are
the factors driving demand for Lenovo products in India, and as a
vendor, what has been your contribution towards this growth?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Lenovo's
sustained
efforts to grow in the enterprise segment have continued to
make deeper inroads into the Indian enterprise PC segment. Cognizant
of market trends and demand for mobile computing, enterprise
customers prefer sophisticated, powerful mobile computing devices
that are compact and equipped with good quality videoconferencing,
document viewing/editing, web browsing and presentation features.
Through our stylish and robust Lenovo ThinkPad T-series and X-series,
we will continue to leverage the burgeoning demand for enterprise
mobility. Our portable business powerhouse -the Lenovo ThinkPad
T-series, is ideal for serious mobile computing featured with the
best processor, sounded-up graphics and reliable data storage
capacity. Lenovo ThinkPad Xseries, made
for the ultimate road warriors, are the thinnest and lightest
notebooks with powerful CPUs, exceptional engineering and extra-long
battery life.

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">How
has
Lenovo's growth and positioning been since its acquisition of
IBM's PC division?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">At
the
time of Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC Division in 2005,
the people behind ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktops,
entailing award-winning engineers, manufacturing teams, sales
representatives and business partners, became part of the Lenovo
team. This acquisition aimed at combining the strengths of IBM's
legendary PC business together with those of Lenovo to provide the
widest range of PC products and technologies to businesses worldwide.
Working together since then, has facilitated IBM and Lenovo to
provide excellent value in PCs for enterprise customers, in terms of
cutting-edge R&D, quality manufacturing, sales, service, support
and financing. In the last fiscal year, Lenovo was successful in
achieving the highest marketshare in the enterprise segment in India.
This accomplishment was largely due to constant evolution of the
Think brand and re-alignment of the channel structure. Our Think
product portfolio offers unparalleled mobility, security and
reliability to our enterprise users, and has grown to become one of
the most preferred PCs in this space. For 19 years, ThinkPad has
pushed the boundaries on innovation. It has won over 2,000 industry
awards, more than any other notebook PC, and recently earned a
compliment by Wired Magazine as a 'near perfect machine.'

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Please
elaborate
on 'stock and sell' model and how is the marketing strategy
based around it?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Lenovo
adopts
the unique 'stock and sell' model to ensure product
availability across the country much before corporate customers place
orders, thereby significantly reducing the turnaround time for
delivery. We educate our partners and sales teams on the products
that are seeing the highest popularity and demand in their respective
regions, in order to 'stock' them up for immediate 'selling'
once a company orders. This model has helped us penetrate the Large
Enterprise (LE) segment further. Lenovo takes the 'stock and sell'
approach to reach out customers from Large Enterprises (LE) through a
model namely, 'Think Large'. Think Large operates through our
channel partners and sales teams to enhance the positioning of Lenovo
products. From a marketing point of view, we are encouraging our
partners to venture into the Large Enterprise space along with us. We
have mooted a number of special schemes and rebates to keep
motivation levels high and upbeat among our partners-such as
Lenovo-branded goodies and electronics and overseas tours and
travels.

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Could
you
throw some light on your channel structure in India?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Lenovo's
focus
on channel is driven by the need to develop a core channel
partner ecosystem in India, replicating the successful model in
China. Lenovo considers channel partners as natural partners in
profit. We work towards fortifying our relationship with them and
nurture a long- lasting bond that is mutually beneficial. Lenovo's
channel structure is broadly divided into channel partners and
distributors. Lenovo's channel partners could be further divided
into tier-1, tier-2 and Lenovo Registered Partners (LRP). Lenovo has
70 premium or tier-1 partners and 250 tier-2 partners. Lenovo
Registered
Partners vary in numbers and the count is often dynamic. Lenovo works
with 3 national distributors, commonly referred to as NDs. Our
regional distributors are present across the country as ell-2 in
the South, 1 in the West and 1 in the North.

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">What
are
your channel plans, strategies and schemes for this year?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">Lenovo
enjoys
the highest marketshare in China, where it distributes
products through 6,000 outlets. This success could be attributed to
the robust channel structure. In spite of the vast reach, it operates
with a lean structure, and cost efficiencies are so well built-in,
that even the office space allotted to the staff is planned. Every PC
sold is tracked to its last mile. The service centre network is
spread wide across the nation to enable prompt service. Adapting the
successful channel model from China, our continuous focus on India
has been to leverage a strong channel base, give customers a strong
product portfolio, exceptional products, and pave way for streamlined
operations with our business partners. Lenovo is committed to its
business partners and is committed to their development and
profitability through the 'Think Ready' initiative kick-started
in India. We consistently undertake training and support initiatives
for the benefit of our partners, thus earning us the reputation of
being one of the most channel friendly companies in India today.
2010 was a year of realignment of our existing channel practices. We
have brought in a great deal of streamlining and hygiene into our
system to ensure better profitability of our partners. Therefore, we
respect and consider our partners' feedback in order to implement
the most optimized working framework for a symbiotic relationship and
mutual benefits in the long haul. We believe that this renewed
approach in our channel strategy will augur well for us in the
current year as well. In 2011, we aim to strengthen our relationships
further, with our channel partners. We are also planning to expand
our channel partner base this year. Conscious efforts to streamline
operations, structure and procedure will help us enhance our
visibility and accessibility to our consumers.

size="3"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">How
has
channel helped to achieve your targets and what are your channel
programs for 2011?

face="Times New Roman, serif"> style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;">According
to
the Q4 2010 IDC India PC Market Tracker, our relational business
accounts for 21.8% of Indian commercial PC purchases for the quarter.
We have 100 cc 25x4 done much better in the Very Large Enterprise
(VLE) segment, where our share is close to 33.7%. This success was
possible because of strong relationship with our channel partners. In
order to enable our channel base and ensure that they are fully
conversant with our products, specific training modules are organized
for our partners on an ongoing basis across various tier-1 and
tier-2 cities. This quarter (Q4 FY 2010), we are organizing 9 'Think
Ready' trainings across the country. We have already completed
'Think Ready' trainings in Pune and Mumbai-which received an
overwhelming response. We will shortly organize similar training
programs for our partners and sales teams in Delhi, Ludhiana,
Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata.