The Indian KVM switch market is not a big one. But Harvey Ko is not complaining about it. Simply because Aten has been registering a 50 percent YoY growth in the country and also because it has cornered 60 percent of the SMB business

How important is the Indian market to Aten?
At the moment, India is the most important business place for Aten in APac. This is because for the past three years, our business has been growing by 50 percent YoY in the country. This year, our distributor Cubix Microsystems is confident of maintaining the growth pace with 40 percent increase in business. In fact, Cubix was awarded the best distributor worldwide by our company recently.

After a business growth of 50 percent YoY, why are you aiming low with 40 percent?
We have been selling in India for the past seven years and the initial three years we spent in evangelizing our brand. We started registering good business growth only in the past three years. Since the base of business was low, it was easier for us to register a 50 percent annual growth.
But now we have reached a plateau and the business has also grown. From here on, we will continue to grow, but at slow pace. So though the
volume of business will be high, the rate of growth will be slower.

Harvey Ko Assistant Manager-Pan-Asia Sales, Aten International

To what would you attribute your growth?
One reason for this growth could be the channel initiatives that Cubix has undertaken. It has organized channel seminars and training programs to educate partners about the nuances of KVM switches. We have also imparted training to Cubix's technical staff every year. These trained members then train the rest of the Cubix team as well as the partners.

Additionally, we held live demos for customers as well and even offered them a free trial for a month for various solutions. This helped in building customer confidence. This way they can use the solutions in their own enterprise environment-test its, record it viability and then take a purchase decisions.

We are also the only KVM company to have the entire breadth of products from the low to the high-end. Other vendors like Raritan and Avocent cater only to the enterprise segment. We have packaged a solution for the SMB segment as well, which has given us good impetus for growth.
Also we have a wide range of models within every KVM product family. This gives customers a better chance to pick and choose what is ideal for their need, rather than making do what other vendors impose on them.

Which verticals do you sell to?
We sell to all companies that have more than two servers and need server management. But at the moment, our key focus in India, is on the SMB segment. We have 60 percent marketshare in this vertical in the country.

Also, several of our Indian customers have standardized on Aten products and whenever they want a KVM solution, they simply give us a call. We don't even have to approach them.

What is your channel structure in India?
Cubix Microsystems is our exclusive distributor and they have their own channel network. Currently they have 15 Gold or first-tier partners and over 100 second-tier dealers.

What new initiatives have you outlined for your channel?
We take good care of our channel as we know that they are very important for our growth. In fact, India is the only market where we have offered our products at a lower price. We have subsidized our products by 15 to 20 percent because we want our channel to earn healthy margins. Additionally, we ensure that our channels are well trained and educated about our offerings. This is the only way they can pass on the USP of our products to the customers.

What new products can partners expect from Aten in the near future?
We have introduced a KVM extender, which is not exactly a switch but an appliance that extends the offerings of a KVM switches over a distance. Media companies primarily use this. For instance, in a TV company, the servers might be in one room and the newsreader is in the studio and is accessing real time information from the server.

This is where the KVM switch ensures that the information is continuously provided to the newsreader's console.

We have also introduced a new centralized management solution for remote server room IT infrastructure, the CC1000. It is a software-based solution for the secured and centralized environments of datacenters, branch offices and remote locations. It is designed for IT administrators to
effectively consolidate the management of all IP-based devices through a single IP address.

As high-availability and zero data loss are crucial for distributed network environments, the CC1000 offers health updates, alarms and an array of flexible logging and reporting options with audit trails for diagnostics and troubleshooting to help users identify potential problems. It also integrates an on-board authentication server that provides fail over in the event of external server or network problems.

We have also launched a KVM switch range with LCD monitors. This product has a 15-inch or 17-inch LCD-monitor with a keyboard and touch pad and can be easily mounted on a wall.

How big is the KVM switches market in India?
To be honest, the KVM switches market is very small. Globally it is around $1.5 billion. To my knowledge, the Indian KVM switch market in 2006 was around Rs 15 crore and it is growing at 32 percent annually.

VINITA BHATIA

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