Sandeep Aurora,
Director, Sales and Marketing Group,
Intel Technology
How has been your association with the channel community?
My association with the channel has been since the days when I was with HCL. We had then launched the channel programmes for HCL and I had kept myself involved with it. After that, I joined Intel and that was the time when the GID programme had started. It was the first time that we were enrolling our channel partners in the GID programme. Since then, the programme has come a long way and there have been a tremendous amount of progress in terms of business as well as understanding of the technology and the ability to provide solutions to customers, where channel has a great role to play.
How do you see the Indian channel community?
One important thing is that it would not have been possible if the channel community would not have geared up and took this initiative of understanding the technology. On our part, we helped them in educating and imparting the right skills and expertise. We made them understand what wonders technology can do today and how it can benefit customer's life. And then, it was their part to go out and explain technology to consumers, SMBs, enterprises and to the government and thus they were successful in leading the transitions that took place in the world of technology. So, we treat our channel as a whole big family where they are entertained and educated on every small thing that takes place inside Intel.
What has been Intel's go-to-market approach?
For the last many years, our go-to-market approach primarily has been to educate the consumers as well as SME users on the usage of IT, how it can be used in the right manner and how it has the potential of transforming their lives to better. For instance, an SME customer would be counselled on how to run his business effectively if he has a PC and how his employees can be connected to the same network. More and more efforts from our side have been made in this direction, on educating the consumers on the usage of IT. Since IT is a very evolving field and it changes every few months, training of sales people and their staff, channel partners and retail partners becomes seemingly important on new technologies. The people who are interacting with the customers need to know on a day-to-day basis as to how the technology has changed, what is that new technology and how that technology has benefited lives.
What makes Sandeep Aurora popular amongst the channel fraternity?
The simple fact that the channel has grown in all these years has become very instrumental in shaping my association with them. Our partners are our lifeline and a means to reach our customers, and this realization has helped me in building a relationship based on trust and confidence with them.
