DLink expects 10% of its overall revenues to come from 'Foundry-DLink´ co-branded products. It had tied up with Foundry Networks for its high-end core networking products in April. Foundry Networks focuses on high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing and Web traffic management solutions.

DLink is directly engaging with the top corporate to deploy these  high-end equipment to gain better acceptance for the products. "There is some resistance among buyers as they have established legacy systems from market leaders like Cisco.But we are working hard on highlighting how the deployment of Foundry-DLink products can improve their business efficiencies," says Prabodh Vyas, Director-Marketing, DLink India. He also notes that corporate go for international technological standards rather than brands and this is exactly what DLink is leveraging on. Prabodh  estimates the enterprise networking market to be over Rs 1,500 crore and the major players are Cisco, Nortel and Enterasys. 

DLink recently held end-user seminars at three location to increase awareness about its high-end offerings. Representatives from over 360 companies attended these events and DLink is now working with the interested participants on how to deploy Foundry-DLink products. DLink plans to set up spares depots and support centers for these products.

In the AMJ quarter, DLink has already signed up four solution providers for these products. It is jointly working with them to target the high-end corporate for projects, each of which amounts to over Rs 40 lakh. "We have signed up only a limited number of solution providers for Foundry-DLink products, because we have strict criteria for partner selection," Prabodh said.

This number will be increased gradually, as the solutions start gaining acceptance in the market. These partners should have a national presence and technical skill sets to integrate these products with the existing infrastructure. They should also have a full-fledged service team to provide post-deployment support

VINITA BHATIA

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