New Delhi
May 12, 2008

To tap the emerging SMB segment, Netgear is looking to appoint system integrator (SI) partners in tier-2 and 3 markets. The company already has close to 800-900 system integrators on board and is now aiming at adding another 100-200 SI partners through their set of value-added partners and distributors by the next fiscal.

Elaborating further, Atul Jain, Country Manger, Netgear India said, “We want to have close to 1,000 SI partners on board who can add value to our products. We have more than 100 products at this point in time and will be launching newer products to address the needs of this segment.”

The company will be running SI technical training programs to impart product knowledge to these partners. Last quarter Netgear rolled out the training program in 15 cities including the metros and B-class cities and has plans to continue the same this year.

In addition to this the company is also aiming at setting up nine to 10 exclusive Netgear service centers to facilitate their customers and partners. At the moment the company provides after-sales support through its distributor partners but in order to make the service more prompt and enable its customer, Netgear will have exclusive service centers in place.

“We are looking at setting up nine to 10 exclusive Netgear service centers by the end of the third quarter. These service centers will be managed by technical experts and will help the end-customers in identifying and rectifying the various service issues they may face,” Jain reiterated.

This fiscal the company will continue focusing on the SOHO and SMB segment. “We are very clear about the fact that we will not enter the enterprise market, simply because we don't have the products to cater to that market. Globally, almost 70 percent of our revenues come from the home and SOHO market and 30 percent from the SMB segment. However, we will continue to increase our revenue figures in the SMB market as well and all our plans and marketing programs will now be designed keeping the same in mind,” added Jain.

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