Sun, Waves, and Serious Debates

The third edition of the DQ Channels SP Summit, held at Port Blair, Andaman
from January 18-20, 2008, saw the participation of nearly 100 channel partners
from across the country. Conducted in association with Sun Microsystems, AMD,
Linksys, Siemens PLM Software, Airtel Broadband Solutions, Emerson Network
Power, Lifesize Communications, Realtime Systems, and AOC, the summit served as
a platform for conversations on business, market, and industry trends.

The event began with an inaugural address by Ibrahim Ahmad, group editor, DQ
Channels, who said that there will be a big challenge for solution providers,
especially those focused on the SMB space 2008 and beyond. The focus of most IT
companies will be the domestic market and solution providers will have to see
how they can better their services and maximize on the growth opportunities
thereof, he said.

Green is In

The first session of the summit was a panel discussion on Green IT. The
panel was chaired by Prasanto Kumar Roy, chief editor, DQ Channels who mentioned
that the driver for Green IT in countries like India is the huge shortage of
power, which leads enterprises to invest in IT Infrastructure that can
accommodate power backup. This in turn means greater cost, he reiterated.

Agreeing with him was Sandeep Nair, MD of Emerson Network Power, who said
that CIOs globally must think of deploying the right kind of equipment that can
help save power. Sharing his thoughts, Sudhir Nayar, director-partner, Sales,
Sun Microsystems, said, As a first step toward Green IT, Sun has gone in for
consolidation of its own servers. By doing that, we managed to increase
performance and reduce power consumption considerably.

Winners of the DQ Channels Excellence Awards at their annual event in Port Blair

According to Saurin Shah of Ashtech Infotech, the concept of green IT is
still nascent in India, and the CEO takes a call on the adoption of green
technologies and equipments in most organizations. Ranjan Chopra of Team
Computers felt there was a need to become a little more conscious about what one
does, and what we will leave behind for the next generation.

Handling M&As

RK Malhotra of Velcosis Systems, who made a presentation on Handling Mergers
said, People retention is a key challenge during a merger because peoples
expectations post merger will increase. The level of commitment and involvement
of employees tend to decrease. So it is important that a HR process be put in
place to meet the changing needs.

He further added that the biggest challenge of a merger is establishing a
common culture that would bind the various entities together. Communicating to
the people, stakeholders and customers about the merger is also crucial because
conflicts at various levels tend to arise.

Manpower Retention

Addressing a session on Manpower Retention Shyam Malhotra,
editor-in-chief, CyberMedia, said, Manpower retention occupies the mind-share
of most CEOs. The need of the hour is more time, and budgets to address the
issue proactively.

Some of the tools that organizations can adopt to ensure people retention
include showing a clear growth path for employees, delegating various
responsibilities, and giving power for decision making so that a sense of
ownership prevails. It is also important to check if the employees have a job
of their desire, provide them with a good work environment, and train managers
on various aspects of relationship building with their team, he added.

About Fund Management

Addressing a session on IPOs, Bimal Raj, CEO of Allied Digital Services,
said, System integrators (SIs) must chose to go along with a category-one
investment banker because they can give the right advise for the IPO process.
Pradeep Gupta, CMD of CyberMedia India, said, For most businesses the concern
is not just about taking funds but where to take it from. Whether venture
capital (VC) is a better option or IPOs are a way out, seems to be the concern.

IDC: Growth Phase 2.0

Partners assembled at the SP summit also learnt about Domestic IT Market:
Beginning of Phase 2.0 from Kapil Dev Singh, country manager IDC India. He
noted that the years 2008 and beyond will see a new phase of growth that would
revolve around the domestic market. Mobility and convergence will be key trends
while infrastructure management will be a challenge.

Panel discussion apart, channel partners got an opportunity to look around
Port Blair. The highlight of their in-city excursion was a trip to Coral Cove
and North Bay where partners went snorkeling to watch the corals and touched
base. If one were to judge by the look on their faces, it seemed that partners
not just enjoyed themselves at the beach but were actually thirsting for more!

DQC News Bureau

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in