Top IT Association in India – FITAG, Gujarat

In this new and unique Column in DQ Channels under Top IT Associations in India, we have covered the Federation of the IT Associations, FITAG, Gujarat, and gathered deep information, and insights into the association, and the Gujarat IT Market.

History/ journey of the Association.

FITAG is the parent body association of Gujarat. It consists of 5000+ members. This association was formed to bring all the associations in the different parts of Gujarat, such as Central Zone, North Zone, Saurashtra, etc., under one roof. They organize events and other activities throughout the year to help members.

Association activities in the last 6 months

FITAG has designed MILAP under which they have designed a series of networking and knowledge-based activities for the whole year. The first biggest event organized was "Samarthya". At this event, representatives from 41 out of 43 associations participated and presented their annual reports as well as did a networking session.

There was another 5 Day event in Jaipur. Where FITAG's delegation went there for national connectivity.

Next, there was a 4-day exhibition in Hong Kong in which a 12-member delegation of the association participated. Consumer electronics, IT, CCTV surveillance, and related brands were present at this event. Here FITAG helped partners to reach new business opportunities from offshore. 350-400 companies were present and FITAG members had a meet-up with them on a one-on-one basis.

How is the market performing in the last 6 months?

There is a recession-like situation in the market. However, FITAG is trying to assist its members in expanding their business to different domains. As IT is nowadays interconnected to different industries whether it is cellphones or consumer goods, each type of goods is now related to information technology. Therefore, FITAG is trying to tap the market and beat the recession by assisting members to reach out to different domains. Consequently, members are procuring good results in their businesses.

What are the primary business verticals for this market?

Gems and Jewellery, engineering, automobile and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and, IT.

What are the different challenges/ issues with the vendors or customers?

Small-scale partners face the heat most of the time. Basically, tier III and tier IV city partners face competition from the LFR or Large-format Retail stores. As these stores provide different services and products under one roof, this leads to difficulty for the partners who work on a smaller scale as they can't offer their customers multiple services as it requires a huge investment. FITAG organizes the "Samanvaya Yatra Program" under which they visit small cities meet the partners, and help them upgrade their knowledge and solve their issues.

Which are the top-selling services/products?

Laptops, Desktops, printers, storage devices, Data centers, and an amalgamation of different peripherals add solutions to make up the market.

How many cloud partners are in your association as members?

15-20% of the members are currently operating as cloud partners.