"The Channel is an extension of our own salesforce"

face="Times New Roman, serif">NComputing,
one of the leaders in end-to-end desktop virtualization and providers
ofdesktop computing solutions, is increasingly focusing on building a
strong channel partner ecosystem. This is a part of its effort to
address the requirements of customers from various segments such as
education, SMB and enterprise, and have deeper penetration in the
Indian market. Apparently, it is a 100% partner-centric organization
and its revenue growth is essentially driven through channels.

face="Times New Roman, serif">The
company realizes that effective presales and technical support are
vital for its products to gain more acceptance in the market. Hence,
it has invested significantly in building a team for the same. This
team works very closely with partners and provides support to develop
and deploy effective solutions. It has a technical support team in
Chennai, that provides telephonic and Web support to both partners
and customers.

face="Times New Roman, serif">For
NComputing, the Indian market is divided into 4 regions (North,
South, West and East). Each region is managed by a regional manager
(RM), who reports to the channel sales director, Raj Kumar. Kumar
drives the entire India channel business and reports to the Asia
Pacific headquarters of the company.

face="Times New Roman, serif">The
channel sales director is responsible for meeting the national
channel revenue goals. His primary focus areas include formulating
the strategy for channel expansion and productivity enhancement,
managing distributor relationship, and implementing go-tomarket
strategies. The RMs are responsible for their region's channel
revenue goals and their primary focus areas are increasing channel
penetration, improving channel productivity through sales support and
managing channel-partner relationship. "NComputing is equipped
with a strong team, to support the channel partners comprehensively
from demand generation to post sales support. Besides the technical
team, the channel sales team is supported by the business development
and marketing teams. The India sales team reports to the APAC
headquarters in Singapore, managed by the VP for the APAC region,"
said Raj Kumar, director- channels India, NComputing.

face="Times New Roman, serif">With
regards to the different layers of the model of operation, the
company has Redington as the national distributor, that provides
support to more than 500 premium partners and resellers in the
country. Besides these, its partners also include OEMs, system
builders and integrators, who provide end-toend solutions to
customers. This business structure helps NComputing to increase
penetration in tier-2 and -3 cities by effectively addressing the
requirements of both channel partners and customers. "While
increasing channel penetration is our focus area, we are very careful
in choosing the right partners. More than quantitative
considerations, such as annual turnover and number of branches, we
check whether the partner is able to understand the value of our
technology and has conviction and capability to communicate the value
to the customers as well. Success lies in identifying and enabling
passionate partners. Of course, if the partner has significant
presence in the education, SMB and enterprise segments, then it will
be an added advantage," stated Kumar.

face="Times New Roman, serif">Kumar
further highlighted, "Our products are being used in a cyber
café in a rural place of Tamil Nadu near Kanyakumari, aswell as
in a school in Jammu and Kashmir.The major challenge for us is to reach
customers located across India and ommunicate the benefits of our
solutions. Building a strong channel network only will help us
surmount this challenge."

face="Times New Roman, serif">In
order to enhance the skill sets, NComputing conducts regular
training programs for the sales and technical team members of channel
partners. It also conducts webinars on a regular basis. The company
puts major emphasis on training, as it believes that articulating the
benefits of virtualization properly is essential for successful sale.
Moreover, the partners must have technical capabilities to position
and provide appropriate solutions, integrating Ncomputing products.
And as its channel community expands, the company will implement new
India-specific training initiatives this year, that will take place
across multiple cities throughout the country.

face="Times New Roman, serif">Kumar
asserted, "The channel partner group is an extension of the
company's sales force that represents us in the market. We work
closely with our channel partner baseand together grow the business
exponentially and move up to the nextlevel. Our channel sales team
supports our partners and we recognize and reward our top performers
that contribute to business. NComputing invests on enabling, training
and motivating partners across the country on a regular basis,
besides conducting joint marketing activities and demo programs."