"The channel have evolved a bit, but the big change is yet to come"

Tushar Sighat is one of the old-timers in D-Link India and has been
associated with KR Naik for over 15 years. He therefore claims to know the
channel community, especially the exclusive D-Link distributors, intimately, a knowledge that will come in handy in his new
job role as Head of the channel business.

Since you have been in the channel business for a long
time, what changes have you witnessed in this space?

I have been affiliated with the channel community, directly or indirectly,
from the time D-Link India was formed 11 years ago. And even before that I was
part of KR Naik's team when he was distributing computer products in India. I
can therefore say that I have seen the Indian channel grow from its infancy to
its

current state.

Tushar Sighat VP, Channel Business (India & SAARC), D-Link India

Earlier the channel was very fragmented and everyone was
selling everything. I have seen the channel grow from this hopscotch fashion to
a better evolved model where the partners are focusing on specific areas of
interest.

There has not been any dramatic change in the channel in the
past few years. True, people have started offering select brands and
technologies rather than everything. Also, some smart partners offer the right
value-adds to their business and there is a transition to focusing on certain
customer verticals.

But this is more because the customer has become smarter and
well aware and knows what he wants. So the channel has had to evolve
accordingly. However, the big change has yet to come. As the margins get eroded,
partners will have to change their profile or focus on niche segments to be
profitable.

In your new job role, what are the goals you have outlined
for yourself?

Firstly, I want to identify areas where the channel can invest and grow in.
We recently held the Explore 2005-06 channel event. The objective of his event
was to make our partners aware of newer technology areas which will become a
mainstay in the next few years. Our partners can invest in it now and reap it

benefits later.

We had highlighted solutions around surveillance, wireless,
entry-level gigabit, broadband, video conferencing, WAN, security, structured
cabling, VoIP and IP-PBX technologies.

My mandate is to make the channel grow and realize better profits. Because,
ultimately, they are growing to fuel our growth.

Why is D-Link getting into surveillance which is so
removed from its core competency-networking?

Recently, we got into the UPS business and even that is removed from our
core competency of networking. But in business, one has to constantly look out
for better and newer growth business. We noticed that the UPS business was
fragmented and we had the channel strength and the manufacturing capability to
come out with world-class products. And today, we are

tasting success in this venture.

Similarly, we have great expectations from the digital
surveillance business. We will soon launch IP cameras, IP alarms and access
cards. With these devices people can monitor their homes, offices, banks or any
other place over an IP address from anywhere in the world.

What was the objective of organizing 'Explore 2005-06'?

We held the 'Explore 2005-06' with an intention to identify areas where our
partners can enter and gain first mover advantage. These are technologies that
are currently in the nascent stage, but will become a mainstay in the future.

We had several solutions that we highlighted during the
event. Partners were given the option to choose any of these to grow in their
chosen business fields. All these solutions are good opportunities, which need
to be harnessed and D-Link has products built around them which partners need to
just push.

So what are the products that you will be offering in
surveillance solutions?

Normally, when we talk of surveillance systems, one envisages a close
circuit camera TV. We are offering IP cameras that can be fixed in a room and
people can monitor the activities, that too over the Net, anytime and anywhere.
We will also offer access cards and IP alarms. These solutions will cost upwards
of Rs 25,000, which makes it affordable for all kind of SMB customers and even
corporate houses and manufacturing units.

Will you have a separate channel network to focus on the
surveillance solutions?

We will select a few networking partners whom we will train to offer these
solutions. They will have to invest in it, train their people and we will drive
their resources so that their return, and ours, is maximized. We will also put
in place a call center which will make outbound calls for lead generation. They
will service our network of 70 to 80 surveillance partners.

When our partners bag an order for networking, they can offer
surveillance solutions as a value addition. These solutions will give partners
better margins as there are not too many people with offerings from well known
brands in the market. As these solutions become more prevalent we will offer
them some other solutions, which will again boost their bottom line.

Which other solution areas besides surveillance will you
be focusing on in the near future?

We are looking at the IP-PBX system, which has been ignored in India. Our
R&D centers in Bangalore and Goa develop a lot of hardware for other
countries. They have come up with a box which can be attached to an ordinary PBX
system but can offer more lines, using IP.

We will launch these systems in India shortly and price it
above the regular PBX systems by 25%. With our systems, customers can make five
to six concurrent calls. And if they want to add more lines, they just have to
upgrade their software licenses.

VINITA BHATIA