The Hindu Business Line : Study highlights channel partners role

WITH the growing domestic economy fuelling an anticipated boom in IT spending by Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs), channel partners of IT vendors are hopeful of a 19-per cent growth in revenues over the next 12 months, according to a study made by the New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

The study states that, as Indian SMBs increasingly adopt new technology initiatives, channel partners are increasingly emerging as important allies of IT vendors. It states that channel partners are instrumental not only in increasing sales to SMB customers, but also act as the "voice of the SMBs" since they provide vendors with valuable inputs about SMB mindsets and preferences. In the process, they help vendors customise their products for the SMB sector.

According to the study, the prime requirement of SMBs from their channel partners is timely sales and support services for basic IT products in the computing and networking space. An overwhelming majority of channel partner revenues are generated locally, from customers located in the same city or town. Only five per cent of the revenues are generated from customers located in another state.

Eighty per cent of channel partners operate from a single location even as, together, they service a diverse mix of customers. The majority of channel partners generate their sales from repeat customers, thereby indicating that channel partners make efforts towards building long term rapport with their customers.

The study states that Indian SMBs are often strongly influenced by the channel when selecting from different brands of IT products and services. In emerging markets such as India, channel partners play a crucial role in educating less tech-savvy SMBs about various aspects of IT purchase, usage and their resultant benefits.

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