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The Indian channel partners serving the small and medium businesses (companies
with 1,999 employees) in the country expect a robust 19 percent increase of
their annual sales revenues according to a survey by Access Markets
International (AMI) Partners.
“Strong economic growth, increasing adoption of a plethora of IT solutions
by Indian SMBs and greater concerted efforts by vendors to fine tune their
channel partner programs are collectively contributing to the above,” observed
Partha Sengupta, Analyst, AMI-Partners.
More than half of SMB channel partners in India identify themselves as value
added resellers (VARs), while 13 percent are system integrators (SIs)/network
integrators. 16 percent classify themselves as either independent software
vendors (ISVs) or Service Providers (SPs) - both emerging market areas.
“The focus of channel partners is still on basic technologies such as
computing and networking hardware and software,” noted Sengupta. “There will
be a gradual move towards higher value areas such as software and Internet
services as more customers demand these offerings,” he added.
The AMI report further stated that SMB channel partners are gearing up to meet
the rising demands. Customer demands and requirements are progressively rising,
and their expectations in terms of service support and product delivery is high,
as product differentiation no longer plays a significant role. Indian SMBs are
often strongly influenced by the channel when selecting between different brands
of IT products and services. Additionally, in emerging markets like India,
channel partners play a vital role in educating less IT-savvy SMBs about various
aspects of IT purchase and usage.
Sengupta further noted, “Though computing and networking hardware still
remain the major contributors to channel partner revenues (contributing over 50
percent), spending on IT services has surged, making it a significant
contributor as well. This reflects the growing demand for training, installation
and technical support among Indian SMBs.”
He added, “Increasing specialization has helped these channel partners to
go beyond simply selling products and providing guidance to less IT-savvy SMBs.
These channel partners are now balancing transactions of both high-tech and
low-tech product ranges to earn maximum revenue.”
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