With an aim to firmly entrench itself in the server space, IT major IBM is working towards increasing the intensity of its engagement with the ISV community in the country. It has already created a dedicated national team of 10 professionals, who will work closely with the local ISVs or solution providers in order to put IBM servers in use for their set of customers.

“ISVs are very important to us. They are the ones who know the customers closely and do the actual deployments, so we are looking forward to increasing our engagement with this community in India,” said Alok Ohrie, Vice President, Systems & Technology Group, India/South Asia. 

This 'Influencer sales team', as they are called internally, are responsible for maintaining relationships with ISVs in India. As IBM moves forward into more cities beyond metros, it would increase the levels of engagement with these partners. 

With the company focusing on increasing the level of engagement with its set of partners, it is also working towards making sure that small channel players in B- and C-class cities move up the value chain with time. “It is always our endeavor to train partners and provide them with the latest information and technology. We want to help our set of 400 odd partners to move up the value chain. So we have seen in the past how some of these partners graduate towards selling a total storage solution instead of just a server,” ALok added.

IBM India has taken some initiatives in order to better position its offerings. The company has recently opened its first 'Explore Center' in Noida and is now all set to open a similar center in Mumbai very soon.

“These Explore Centers will provide an ideal platform for us to showcase our technology and products for our customers. We are not targeting any particular segment in this. This is for all our customers. In addition to this we are also engaged in activities like 'Gyan Vigyan', which is an educative program targeted towards the SME focused partners,” Alok explained.

Even though, the company has announced 'Pay Rs 1 and take away an IBM server' scheme, it is still keeping itself away from the 'renting model' as of now. “Our Rs 1 scheme is a big success. The response has been really good and it's quite affordable to customers as they can pay the amount in easy installments. We are not doing anything on the 'Rent a server' model. Some of our partners might be doing something on this but that is not the way where market is moving,” informed, Anil Sethi, GM and Country Manager, eServers – India & SAARC Countries, IBM.

DQC NEWS BUREAU
NEW DELHI

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