TAIT POST-BUDGET MEET: More Than Managing Money

The post-budget meet by Mumbai-based Trade Association of IT (TAIT) threw up
several questions, some of which were left unresolved. Diversifying product
lines, providing value adds, emphasizing on regional brands and other pivotal
ideas were shared by some well-known channel stalwarts. A lot of information was
shared on VAT, budget implications, while Tally Solution talked about its new
product, which is VAT-compliant.

The Trade Association of Information Technology (TAIT) in association with
Tally Solutions and DQ Channels held a post-Budget panel discussion for trade
partner in Mumbai titled "Channels & You —Strategies for Channels in
2005". The session was an eventful one with industry veterans like K
Jaishankar, CEO of Tech Pacific ER Ashok Kumar, NSM, Intel Technologies, Anil
Pant, VP, Tally Solutions and Chartered Accountants, SS Gupta and Alok Pansari,
sharing strategies channel partners could adopt in the coming fiscal. The
session was moderated by Vinita Bhatia, Senior Assistant Editor, DQ Channels.

The event started with K Jaishankar, CEO of Tech Pacific Technology giving
his interpretation of the Budget 2005. He shared ways by which channel partners
could bring about ways to make their business more successful. "The
government is encouraging foreign investment, and the retail sector is too is
gaining ground. Thus more than growth being a challenge, aligning the business
in a profitable manner way is vital," commented he.

Strategizing the business would also mean more competition. He opined that in
the channel community, there will be more competition amongst the distributors.
It is his feeling that regional distributors will be tough competitors for
larger ones and that the latter plan their strategies keeping the regional ones
in mind.

Diversify Product Range

He felt that for distributors to gain market share, and do well, it is
important to retain their existing clientele, and more importantly, they should
diversify their product portfolio by adding more products. Focusing on services
will improve profitability too. Coming to resellers, Jaishankar said, "Home
and SOHO segments will witness tremendous growth as access to broadband and PCs
will become cheaper. B, C and D-class cities will be very lucrative markets, and
growth there will be higher than in metros," he pointed out.

(From L to R) Anil Pant, VP, Tally Solutions; Vinita Bhatia, Sr Assistant Editor, DQ Channels; Chartered Accountants SS Gupta and Alok Pansari, ER Ashok Kumar, National Sales Manager, Intel Technologies and K Jaishankar, CEO of Tech Pacific

Talking about the merger of Tech Pacific and Ingram Micro, he said that from
the first week of May, people will deal with a single organization.Â
Stating the example of concept centers in Bangalore and New Delhi, he said that
the company will focus on giving value added services. He ended by saying that
it will also diversify its product range to office automation products and
consumer electronics.

ER Ashok Kumar, National Sales Manager, Intel Technologies was all in favor
of the market, as it is showing all positive signs for growth. He pointed out
that there is not much cost difference between an entry level MNC PC and a local
branded PC. Thus, he felt that consolidation between the two for the channel is
inevitable.

Building Regional Brands

Talking more about the strength of the channel in India, he reasoned it out
because of a large number of human capital working in it, and also capability to
handle cultural differences. According to him, the winning strategy for the
channel would be to build regional brands and give value addition to the
products.

Anil Pant, Vice President, Tally Solutions said that the new version of Tally
- Tally 7.2 will simplify businesses to a very large extent. He believes that
PC penetration in the country will increase due Tally 7.2.

This was later followed by talks from SS Gupta, who is a CA and Alok Pansari
- a CA in Direct Taxes. The session came to an end with a short panel
discussion. Some of the questions were ways to select the correct service model
and the reason there are not many pure-play software players in the channel
community.

A DQ CHANNELS REPORT

TAIT to introduce certification program

Trade Association of IT (TAIT) will launch the TAIT Member Advantage program
from March 25, 2005. Members can be classified under four certification levels.
They are - Platinum, Gold, Silver and Value Certified. These members will be a
part of an end-customer promotion campaign, where they will be encouraged to buy
products and services only from certified TAIT members. The program is for
systems assemblers, resellers, distributors, repairs and services and rental
companies. A registration form has to be filled for the same.

Under this program, a third party research company will assess TAIT members
who wish to be a part of this program. They will be assessed on the basis of
various parameters like financials, infrastructure, support facilities, customer
feedbacks and other parameters as well. Systems assemblers will get a special
boost to compete against OEMs, MNCs and other competitors.

The reason behind coming up with this is to differentiate quality partners
from the rest and to curb unhealthy practices. End customers too will get the
confidence while dealing with certified companies. During the phase of
certification, all registered members will have to sign a code of conduct
agreement.

This program will have a second phase too, wherein members certified in the
first phase will be a part of promotional programs like banners, plaque, web
locators, media advertisements and other activities too. The second phase of the
program is expected to begin in July 2005.