R. K. Amar Babu
Managing Director
Lenovo India
How do you see the channel evolving since day one of your association with them?
It has been an amazing experience. I guess I am a little old now, almost two decades in the IT industry, and I started my career working with channel partners. There was a time when a partner used to be an IT partner who was into all business, any business that comes be it consumer, SMB, enterprise, it didn't matter. From there I have seen the maturity and clear segmentation in the country. We have clearly corporate resellers, or corporate system integrators (SIs). We have very large system integrators, then we have the VARs for the SMBs, we have the retail partners, really true blue retail partners who sell to retail customers. The entry of the large format has changed a little bit of rules in the main cities for the retail players, but, by and large, this has turned them more structured.
What has been Lenovo's go-to-market strategy?
Two years ago, we actually structured our channel's go-to-market strategy. We drew strategies for exclusive stores, multi-branded stores, regional distributors and the large format retail partners. We still have value-added resellers for the SMBs and have the corporate resellers for our enterprise segment. After categorizing partners, we developed specific programs for each of them. So, we cans ay that our go-to-market strategy has been the real growth strategy where we defined business for our various levels of partners. And, that is where we are continuing to invest.
What makes Lenovo successful in India?
In a technology company, it is rated as good or bad according to its products. Lenovo has always been innovative in terms of quality and variety. We today have clearly segmented products, the consumer, the SMB, and for the enterprise. Next comes the positioning through channel that takes care of availability. Our channel has seen us working with them as true partners in profit. All this has resulted in further strengthening our brand.
How is Lenovo's support network spread?
I think after-sales warranty is a critical element for the success in any industry, more so in the computer industry. At the end of the day, it is an electronic product and a complex electronic product. Today, we reach 130 cities directly. Through our hub and spoke model, we reach over 300 cities. And, we will continue to invest. We work with our outsource partners, IBM being one of our most important partners in this area, and we want to provide very effective after-sales service.
