Does a partner need to be a specialist? Should he continue selling products or switch to selling solutions? These are the questions being asked time and again to the partners and discussed on various platforms.
I think the partners should be flexible and dynamic. They should be adaptable to the changing dynamics of the business. This is for sure that the IT market in India is growing very fast. You will never lose your money. If you sell products only, you will make money. But if you sell solutions, then you will make more money. You should learn this from the vendors like IBM, HP or APC.
In the today’s world, it is difficult to be a specialist because by doing so you are negating the growth opportunities. If you are selling PCs only, and your customer wants security solutions, you should be able to pitch in for that also.
If a company like HP or APC can enter into peripherals and accessories, it indicates that one need not be rigid in business. Your identity will not be eroded if you sell a mouse even though you are a supercomputer leader. To remind the readers, HP has brought out a host of standalone products, including LCD monitors, laptop batteries, connectors, accessories, bags, etc. Before this, APC had done the same thing. APC is a UPS vendor, which does not have anything to do with laptops, but still they have forayed into the business. The rationale is that one should drive one’s forces wherever s/he sees an opportunity without being rigid.
HP obviously had a great relation with the products being the complete system or solution vendor, but being an OEM, it gives a strange feeling to the partners as to how HP is into peripherals. But whatever one perceives, HP wants to grab the opportunity for making money. So, companies like APC or HP, they do not erode their identity of being specialists in UPS or Storage or Servers or even PCs by selling the accessories. Therefore, the partners should think and take a leaf out of the vendors’ books.
I would like to add one more suggestion here that the IT vendors want to stay in India and for the health of channel partners they should invest in the demo units. If you care to look at the white goods or automobiles, you can find that each outlet has many demo units or test units. The customers walk in and take a test drive and if he likes, then he buys it. But, in the IT industry, one buys PCs or servers without seeing them physically. I think the vendors can improve on their business if they take note of this suggestion.
Sanjay Mohapatra
Editor
