Bangalore
May 2, 2007

Fluke Networks, which provides solutions for testing, monitoring and analysis of enterprise and telecommunications networks, is all set to expand its Indian operations. Operating out of its offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore, the company currently employs seven people in sales and support. It now plans to scale this number to 12 by December 2007. Also on the anvil is the setting up of an eight member Technical Assistance Center (TAC) in the country and to expand operations to Chennai and Hyderabad.

Explaining the India expansion plans, Michael Gengler, Director of Sales, Asia Pacific, Fluke Networks, said, "India is a very important market for us. Currently, we are working with two types of partners – distributors and solutions providers. We are looking at setting up solutions sales using major systems integrators throughout India.”

These partners would be present across the four metros and cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Cochin. The company wants to have two partners in every city and has already roped 12 partners on board. These include Exelan Networks and Gemini Communications in Chennai and Netplace in Mumbai. Its distribution partners include Ingram Micro and Technical Trade Links.

While indicating that Fluke would look more at quality of partners than numbers, Gengler said that they would seek partners who have relevant experience in network management. Stressing on the need for educating partners and customers in areas of networking and management, he said that Fluke would provide partners with both technical and sales training in order to help them understand and better solve customer pain points.

Given that Fluke caters largely to enterprise customers, the focus verticals in India for the company would be BFSI, government- especially e-governance and manufacturing. Gengler added, "Even while catering to the enterprise, Fluke would look at opportunities in the SMB sector in India. Towards this end, we would want to appoint new distribution channels and also focus on the retail segment.”

Additionally, Fluke is also looking at opportunities in the managed services sector. “As we grow, our global development center in Pune would gather more focus and we would look to design more customized products and solutions for the India market," Gengler noted.

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