“The sprawling market opportunities for extended enterprise planning solutions, supply chain management, corporate performance management solutions put India next to China in aggressive technology adoption and usage”

Alok Tandon

Country Manager, SSA Global Technologies-India

Alok Tandon is quite abreast with the Indian market and the
forces that are instrumental in driving business here smoothly. As Country
Manager of SSA Global Technologies, he is trying to enter into newer customer
verticals, which will help the company grow organically and inorganically.
Having spent over 25 years in the IT industry, Alok knows the ins and the outs
of the industry.

How important is India to SSA Global's business
strategy?

India is a very strategic market not just for SSA Global but for all other
IT companies as well. The country's CAGR growth of 26% has caught the eyes of
MNCs, who are investing heavily here to harvest greener pastures later. At SSA
Global, we are focusing on fortifying our position in this part of the APAC
market. The sprawling market opportunities for extended enterprise planning
solutions, supply chain management, corporate performance management solutions
put India next to China in aggressive technology adoption and usage.

As far as profitability
is concerned, India is not lagging behind on that front either. According to the
ARC Advisory Group research on Indian ERP (Software & Services) Industry's
2004 survey report, the total market size is $83 million, wherein SSA Global has
already acquired 14.1% market share.

What kind of
distribution model do you have in India?

There are two ways through which we address our customers in India. One is
through direct marketing approach; where we deal with enterprise accounts
through our sales team aligned to different verticals. Secondly, we cater to the
needs of SMB and mid-market customers through channel partners, who collaborate
with customers and evangelize their IT infrastructure.

SMB is a
promising market. How do you plan to leverage it for achieving your business
targets?

There is no denying that the SMB segment constitutes an integral vertical
that would mature as enterprises of tomorrow. Practically, SMB or SME are those
companies with below Rs 200 crore turnover and today 60% to 70% of prospective
customers are from this particular revenue bracket.

According to our
business model, we support our SMB customers through our channel partners who
fulfill the roles of a consultant as well technology suppliers. Flexibility,
fast implementation and early return on investment are the major pain areas for
CIO's of small business groups, which we try to address through our solutions.
In our pursuit to soothe these concern areas of CIOs, we intend to lay more
emphasis on developing flexible and scalable solutions for SMB customers at our
local development center in Hyderabad.

What sort of
activities is carried out at your Hyderabad R&D center Global?

The SSA Global Hyderabad center is amongst one of the biggest Global
development centers of the company.  It
develops end-to-end business solutions in the ERP, CRM, SRM and SCM space using
cutting edge technologies.  Earlier
the Hyderabad R& D center belonged to BAAN, but ever since the acquisition
of BAAN by SSA Global, this center started developing the SSA core products. All
the solutions that SSA Global offers are now developed in India. This includes
all of the solutions that have been acquired over the last few years. The center
is known for its Business / technology expertise in ERP and extended ERP
application development space. Hyderabad also houses the Global Support center
providing second line support to customers worldwide. 

What kind of growth
you are projecting this year? What will be your strategies for the same?

Having an expanded suite of products for various verticals available with
us, we envision further fillip in our revenue turnover this fiscal. We will
channelize our strategies for growth along two lines. One is by making our
development center more robust and the second is by enhancing our go-to-market
tactics. We will tap unconventional verticals other than those we have been
catering to traditionally. Acquisition of newer products and technologies will
also act as the catalysts fueling-in inorganic growth.

Which market
segments are your focus areas right now?

The conventional vertical segments SSA Global caters to are manufacturing,
distribution, retailing and services sector.

What new
solutions will SSA bring to the market in the coming months?

We will focus on further strengthening our existing portfolio, which
consists of an entire gamut of customized solutions. Our major thrust will be on
strategic products that consist of warehouse management, transportation planning
and optimization, supply chain management, customer relationship management,
corporate performance management solutions.

Moreover with third
party, fourth-party logistics and warehousing culture-gaining prominence coupled
with mushrooming retail businesses spiraling high, warehousing management
solutions will be our prime focus area. Thus customized warehousing solutions
will gain spontaneous market pull.

Are you considering
making enhancements to your partners' headcount? What are the parameters on
which you select your partners?

We are deliberating on getting few more channel partners on board. We will
take those channels under our distribution umbrella, which possess knowledge of
specific vertical segments. We give preference to partners who vouch for value
addition to the products and services they bring to their customers rather than
acting as the box-pushing agent.  

What is your
vision for your channel?

One of the significant things that SSA Global envisages for its channel
partners is how we could propagate profitable business for them. We want to work
in tandem with our partners to bring value at the market place as well as
explore opportunities.

Anjali choudhary

(anjali@cybermedia.co.in)