You have recently been appointed the country manager, channel business for
Emerson Networks. What are some of your plans new?
This is my eighth year in Emerson and I have been a part of the channel team
and headed various verticals I am pretty well-versed with the way the channel
works here. We are planning to penetrate upcountry locations. We have also
revamped our channel model and will be adding another set of partners to the
existing two-tier distribution model. We have already appointed as many as
twenty Network Solution Partners (NSP) for the same and will also be doubling
our enterprise partner and the direct partner base to cater to customers in
different ways.
What is the idea behind the inception of NSP base?
Most of our products portfolio gels with IT solutions. Besides, these
products also add value to the partners own product portfolio. In the six
months when we were experimenting with the solutions we have seen some positive
results and we have every thing in place. The NSP program is only for the IT
people and they can use our strength to go to the customers and cater to their
different needs.
Emerson is also aiming at geographical expansion?
We already have branches in twenty-nine locations and by 2009 we are
planning to expand the branches further, and bring the number to thirty-five. We
have identified cities like Ludhiana, Trichy, Nagpur, Durgapur, Kota, Simla,
Surat and Rajkot for the same as these markets have immense potential to grow
and can generate business for us. Although the slowdown is looming, there is a
huge demand from the upcountry locations. We hope to penetrate the cities where
we do not exist or where our presence is minimal.
Will Emerson also be expanding its product portfolio?
We will be pitching our complete range of UPS systems in 2009. We will be
launching more energy efficient products in the years to come. We also want to
take these server racks to the market which is why we are looking at tying up
with partners who can concentrate on solutions offering. The NSP initiative will
help push this business further.
Pooja Sharma/DQC
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in