Channel Czars

Krishnan Jaishankar:

The Channel King

The biggest channel event of the decade was when the number two channel vendor acquired the number one vendor to create a behemoth of a distributor; it happened in 2004 when Ingram Micro acquired Tech Pacific-the new Ingram ended up being the mother of all resellers. Once the block buster merger got over, the need of the hour was to identify the right person to oversee the transition and handhold the entire cultural synergy. That man was K Jaishankar, the former CEO of Tech Pacific, who in 2004 took over the reins of the merged entity, Ingram Micro India.

Integrating two major distribution houses was no mean task. Working out their synergies, identifying business divisions through product groups, integrating the team and leveraging the presence-it involved intense brain storming and close coordination. And this is where Jaishankar played the stellar role; after all he was handling almost all the leading tech vendors in the country including Intel, HP, Samsung and HCL among others. Another major challenge in the initial years for the new entity was the rapid rise of eSys. Taking advantage of the confusion caused by the merger, eSys was rapidly gaining grounds at the expense of Ingram Micro. However, Jaishankar was steadfast and still managed to retain the core principals; subsequently, when the eSys bubble fizzled out, Ingram Micro managed to retain its top position and start growing again.

Jaishankar took utmost care to ensure that the integration leads to a strong team at Ingram
Micro India. They subsequently had a much larger team with clearly defined roles, up to the branch level, focusing on specific product lines and business functions. Not only that, having realized
that linear growth is no more possible to sustain long time, he ensured that the company moves into non-IT products, particularly taking advantage of the mobile boom the country witnessed in the last few years.

Nitin Shah:

The Pioneering SP

Born and brought up in South Mumbai, Shah had decided in his early teens that he wanted to be an engineer. Despite hailing from a strong Gujarati background, Shah opted to foray into a technology domain, instead of his father's trading business. Academically bright, Shah is a graduate of the first batch of the computer science stream (1977) of VJTI, under Mumbai University. Before he took his first entrepreneurial step by starting his own company Digital Data Services in 1984, Shah had worked with almost all the leading IT lights of the time including Crompton Greaves, Nelco, CMC, Digital Equipment as well as ICL.

With his Digital Data he was one of the first pioneers of domestic IT services and boasted of clients like Pfizer, Forbes, Bombay Dyeing, LIC and Indian Navy. Even as Digital morphed into Allied Digital, Shah has been one of the pioneers amongst Indian solution providers. Not only was it among the first of the SPs to look into infrastructure management services, but it was also one of the first to venture into newer areas. Like going global through acquisition, starting its own NOC and SOC and starting to offer both physical security and information security services. Today he boasts of clients like World Bank, Boeing, DuPont, Nestle, Deustsche Bank and Oracle.

Shah has always been interested in doing direct business with customers rather than involving franchisee or any other dealers. He believes that getting involved with the customers directly increases the loyalty and also helps to know about the customer experience. The three rules which have always kept him ahead in the game are developing technological depth to overcome stiff competition in the market, having a pan-India reach and therefore invest a lot on human and financial resources and lastly in putting the best processes in place through the most mature mannered system.

Sunil Kakkad:

Turning Adversity into Advantage

The Founder and promoter of Ahmedabad-based Sai Infosystems makes it to this list by the sheer dint of his performance. After all, how can you ignore the chief architect of the country's biggest solution provider? Starting from four members in 1992, Sai has grown to nearly 800 employees under Kakkad's tutelage with operations in 17 states across the country. FY '10, no doubt, was the ultimate culmination of Kakkad's efforts as Sai reached the pinnacle, but many saw it coming in the last few years.

An ardent admirer of Dhrubhai Ambani, Kakkad started Sai with his school and college friend Vijay Mandora: the seed capital of Rs 5 lakh was provided by Kakkad's dad. The big turning point came when the company tied-up with PCL in 1995 as regional distributor for Gujarat. The defining moment. came in 1996, when PCL ran a scheme for a sub Rs 20,000 PC. Although a great strategy, it failed in execution and the company faltered in meeting demand. So they asked Sai to assemble systems for them. But within six months, PCL folded up due to mismanagement and Sai was stuck with a huge inventory of assembled machines as well as outstandings from PCL. Kakkad's entire capital got eroded.

Winding up business would have been on the agenda of any lesser mortal, but Kakkad came up with a master plan which not only turned SIS around, but also defined its future strategy. He acquired the entire Ahmedabad operation of PCL including their people and customer database. PCL was very strong in the government segment and with their staff on-board, he converted nearly 90 percent of their customers to SIS in just about a year. Hence Sai's strong focus on government

Under his leadership, the company defied slowdown and went on to grow at a healthy pace throughout the last three years. One encouraging aspect about the company's revenue was that its services component has been steadily rising all through. Showing his pioneering vision among SPs, Kakkad led Sai to register itself at Special Economic Zone at Kandla (Gujarat). It also floated a 100 percent subsidiary namely SIS Global FZE at Sharjah to further boost its international operations. Unlike very few SPs, Sai also made major forays into the government and bagged orders from large PSUs like BSNL, Power Finance Corporation and IFFCO.

Kakkad's focus right now is on leveraging the telecom vertical. It launched video phone service in Gujarat in association with BSNL. While the state-owned telecom operator is providing its broadband network, SIS is its technology partner which has developed a soft switch that is installed on BSNL's network. On its part, SIS provides complete technology for video phone along with audio as well as video devices, apart from installation of an exchange at BSNL's premises.

NR Panicker: Diversified Champion

A technocrat with over three decades of experience, Panicker is another successful product of the HCL stable which has provided Indian IT with some of its brightest gems. After serving HCL in various capacities from 1977 to 1990 including as head of its IT services operations, Panicker founded Accel Frontline in 1991, the progenitor of the Accel group of companies located in Chennai. He was one of the first Indian SPs to look at a global JV. In 2004, company made a strategic alliance with Singapore-based Frontline Technologies Corporation Limited and made Accel ICIM a joint venture between Accel Ltd and FTC and changed the name to Accel ICIM Frontline Ltd.

As the company matured to become a total IT solution provider under Panicker's tutelage, it decided to expand its software services business, by tapping the overseas markets. Two subsidiaries were set up in UAE and Singapore to offer near shore services. The software unit in Chennai specialized in providing ERP consulting, application management, outsourced product development and industry specific solutions. Panicker created expertise in industry domains such as banking, healthcare, manufacturing, education and government.

Panicker has never stopped innovating with his company. There was the consolidation of activities under various group companies effected on January 1, 2009, which though having an impact on revenues for Accel overall in FY '10, was Panicker's latest masterstroke. The Warranty Management Services division under Accel Frontline was hived off into Accel Frontline Services which generated Rs 54 crore worth of revenue-Beetel Teletech, Videocon (mobile phones), Transcend, iOmega and A-Data were principals added. At Rs 306 crore, Accel Frontline still contributed the lion's share to the group turnover-telecom, BFSI and government were the key segments even as it increased focus on RIM services. Accel Animation Studios, a division of Accel Transmatic, entered into an agreement with 'Monster Distributes' of Ireland, for the worldwide distribution of its 3D animated series 'Ek Tha Jungle'. Accel Animation Studios, on the other hand, completed animated feature film Alibaba for UTV.

Rajesh Gupta: The GID Man

Intel probably has the oldest distribution network in the country, a structure of Intel Traders (ITRs), Genuine Intel Dealers (GIDs) and Intel Premium Partners (IPPs) that has evolved over the last fifteen years. Rajesh Gupta has been the pioneer, driving these models. Though these models have undergone changes over the years, they always hinged more on nomenclatures, keeping the same underlying philosophy. The newer strategies were congruent to Intel's brand transition from 'Intel Inside' to 'Leap Forward' and were aimed toward scaling up the channel partners and increasing their volumes and profitability. As part of its strategy, Intel changed its way of training the partners, which became more solutions centric for user model where the partner worked with the customer and drive solutions accordingly, rather than sell what he has. While the IPP layer, that has emerged in the last decade conformed more to this solutions approach, it was the GID program created by Gupta in 1995, which got major facelift throughout this year. While no one can or should doubt Intel's pioneering role in defining the channel network in India through this GID network, little doubt can be placed on the person, who championed these models.

Ranjan Chopra: First Among Equals

Ranjan Chopra, a corporate czar by the day, is someone who has rewritten the rules of the solution providing business. At a time when many in the business have opted for other streams, his unwavering focus on creating better solutions and charting newer terrain has made Team Computers a case study on how to run a successful solutions business.

According to him, power is the ability to influence people, but the influence could be either good or bad. But you wonder what is it that makes him first among equals. “People think I am powerful mostly because of my innovative and creative work,” he noted. Chopra felt that the solutions that his company has been able to formulate in the last year have been his biggest achievements. With the solutions that Team Computers has created, Chopra has been creating his own intellectual property, which has global ramifications.

Talking about growth, Team is one of the few companies, which has had a steady growth rate of 40-50 percent YoY. Elaborated Chopra, “All of us are used to following best practices in whatever we do. But essentially what we are doing is that we are following what someone else has already done. I do not want to do that. I want to ensure that we break new grounds, make solutions, which make use of the intellect of processes.”

Pawan Agarwal: Best Laid Plans

Agarwal has been the man responsible for bringing the North East into India's IT map over the last few years. If there is one thing that Guwahati-based Pawan Agarwal has learnt through in all his years in business, it is to be prepared for any circumstances. This learning and his strict adherence to it has seen him through all sorts of situations, or rather has kept the hard times at bay.

Being planned and focused has helped him steer his company Datamation towards success. He also felt that one should be smart and take calculated risks in life. Normally, he has planned for the upcoming year based on the market demand and upcoming technology and take decisions accordingly. Not one to be bogged down by competition, Agarwal has charted out his companies growth keeping well-laid strategies in mind. Ask him what distinguishes him from his peers and pat comes the reply, “I have been able to gain a powerful status in the market through an aggressive market approach, futuristic planning and by keeping a close watch on the upcoming market trends.”

For Agarwal, relationships are an important aspect of ones business, whether it is with customers, vendors or distributors, and he knows, it is this factor, that can see him to the top. As most successful channel partners believe, he too felt that one should try and earn the credibility of business partners through transparent dealings. Apart from that, he is a keen observer of the market dynamics and believes that one should always keep a finger on the pulse of the market.

RS Shanbhag: Walking the Talk

If one were to think of the top most solution providers in the country today, Valuepoint Systems and its Director RS Shanbhag would be an obvious choice. Ask him what 'power' means and Shanbhag says with his discerning smile, “For me 'power' means having strong fundamentals, business ethics, 'Do or Die' principals, result-oriented sales and support force and more importantly, loyal customers.”

When Shanbhag expanded Value Point operations to about ten other locations across the country, he had severe manpower crunch. By enabling and delegating the branch responsibilities to his existing, solid second line team at HO, he managed to overcome this gap and quickly aligned themselves with their target and goals. At the end of the day, he feels that in order to remain on top, one needs to think, act and perform differently than others. 'Change' and 'speed' are the key parameters for success, according to Shanbhag.

While talking of his success, Shanbhag feels that any other player in the business aspiring to grow to his stature must create belongingness and wealth for everyone, who depend upon or are associated with them. An ambitious person, true to his word, Shanbhag made ValuePoint undergo major restructuring plans in the last few years. It continued to focus on a couple of ISV relationships along with ERP solutions and practices, wireless and security solutions. Last but not the least, unlike few SPs, Shanbhag managed to internally build industry specific IT consultancy services for domains like healthcare, life sciences, retail and discrete manufacturing.

Devendra Taneja:

Rise of the Phoenix

Devendra Taneja is often told, that he comes across as an aggressive person. This he attributes to the fact, that he is blunt and does not bother to sugar coat his words. But while it may be his weakness in the short term; in the long term, his bluntness has stood him in good stead. In business, his frankness has ensured that he carefully select his clients and projects, even rejecting those that did not make business sense to him.

The going was not always smooth sailing for this first generation businessman. There came a point when Taneja felt the urge to start his own business. This was when he faced his first hurdle; convincing his family, that what he was doing was right. Finally they relented, and with the support of his wife, Taneja began Integrated PC Solutions.

He started off PC Solutions as a third-party maintenance (TPM) organization in 1988. As business progressed, in 1992, Taneja exited the TPM business and began focusing on networking and system integration. This was the turning point in the business,. American Express and NDTV were among his first clients. There is much that one can learn from Taneja, not only in the way he groomed his business and set it on the path to growth, but also from his knack for always looking at situations in a positive light. Recently, one floor of PC Solutions office in New Delhi caught fire leaving nothing, but ashes to show for what was once an office. But question Taneja about the mishap and he shows no signs of distress. “Yes it was unfortunate, but I would not call it a set back. The incident gave me new learning. One must always be prepared for such instances,” he shared. All the staff on that particular floor were accommodated on the other floors and business commenced as usual. “For a while we had to play musical chairs on the other floors,” he laughed. Now, just a few weeks past the incident, the floor has been redone and is in use. Most importantly, this incident taught him, that it was essential to factor all sorts of risks in business.

Rajesh Agarwal: Upwardly Mobile

Micromax is now India's third largest GSM mobile phone vendor after Nokia and Samsung, according to IDC. It sells nearly a million phone every month leading to a turnover of Rs 1500 crore. An astounding story considering Micromax, started making mobile phones only in 2008, though Rajesh Agarwal has founded Micromax in 1991, as a hardware distributor for brands like Dell, HP and Sony. He was subsequently joined by three of his friends, as equal partners in 1999.

Their big break came in 1999, when Nokia signed them up as an all-India distributor for machine-to-machine devices - essentially landlines, that were customized to run on a mobile network. They were used by call centers and PCOs. By 2004, Micromax had revenues of Rs 10 crore and employed about 80 people. It was installing about 10,000 Nokia 32s a year in India, making it the largest Nokia distributor worldwide for these products. But, overnight, it all threatened to come apart.

The same year, Nokia decided to exit this segment. Micromax decided to turn this into an opportunity . So far, they had been customizing a Nokia instrument. Now, they decided to build and sell the whole thing themselves - that too 40 percent cheaper than the Nokia 32. Airtel was its first client. Against the 10,000 devices it sold for Nokia in a year, Micromax was selling 35,000 of its own within a year. Business peaked in 2007, with sales of 2,50,000 devices. Then, the mobile revolution took over. Overnight, again, Micromax faced extinction. But, Micromax again converted the threat into an opportunity. Six months on, it too hopped on to the mobile bandwagon. But it went about the business differently. It stressed on product innovation for the low-end, price-conscious user. So, it went rural. It worked. The rest is history. It was Agarwal, who convinced the others after being an IT distributor for years to enter the crowded mobile phone market. Innovation was the key to Micromax's success: for example, realizing that most Indian villages and towns do not get enough electricity to even recharge a phone daily, Micromax increased the size of the battery and was able to tout a standby time of 30 days for some of its handsets. To carry this innovation story forward, Aggarwal even got Micromax to partner with Israel-based company Modu.

Rajneesh De
(rajneeshd@cybermedia.co.in)