The Traders Association of IT has done it again. For the third time this association from Mumbai has emerged as the most favored channel association as per a survey conducted by IDC India, which was commissioned by DQ Channels.

Pune's Computers and Media Dealers Association (CMDA) came in second, which is a whopping jump from its last year position at #9. In fact it has been the highest mover amongst all other associations in the survey this year. This is one association, which won for its regular activities for improving the lot of its members, in terms of their business and quality of personal life as well.

The third winner was a surprise package. It was the Nagpur-based Vidharbha Computer Manufacturers & Dealers Welfare Association (VCMDWA), which till last year was at #8.

The toppers
TAIT managed to bag the envious #1 position because of its highly satisfied members, who gave good feedback about the activities conducted by the association. It has actively helped its members by organizing seminars on issues that affected its members most. These includes managing the margin crisis, handling the octroi issues as well as measures to combat the threat from large format retailers (LFR).

TAIT, which was established in 1996, has a total of  380 members of which 250 are active. It has 10 office bearers who are full time employee. Last year the association bought an office for conducting its affairs with a separate conference room that could be rented out to its members.

TAIT, which represents around 2,200 partners in Mumbai holds monthly meetings and organized eight events last year. Three of these were seminars, held in conjunction with vendors, to improve the skillsets of
its members. Last year the association also held an exposition-COM IT-where it saw a visitor footfall of two lakh.

Pune's CMDA has been repeatedly in the news the whole of last year for all the activities it has been undertaking. Its ranking in the DQ Channels Channel Association survey significantly increased as the association was very effective in resolving its members issues related to octroi problem. In several cases it has been successful in bringing about internal arbitration between members as well as with vendors.

CMDA also decided that rather than merely talking about the LFR threats it would set up an IT Mall to counter it. It signed up with DSK Developers and is currently finalizing the appropriate property. The association is also the first in the country to have an ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Established in 1989, CMDA has increased its member base from 175 in 2003 to 350 currently, of which 150 members are active. It has six members on its executive council and employs three full time employees. The body has 45 meetings annually, which comes to one meeting a week. Its annual expo saw one lakh visitors and business worth Rs 20 lakh was generated at the event.

Nagpur-based VCMDWA, ranked at #3, added the maximum number of partners with its membership strength going up by 47 percent to cruise at 110 partners. It moved up from the last years #8 because of its successful handling of claims and accounts disputes with a national distributor.

New Delhi's Computer Media Dealers Association (CMDA) was a non-mover at #4 a position it held the year before as well. The associating was in the news when it challenged a Samsung circular that denied post-sales support for products sourced from non-Indian distributors. CMDA won the case in court, which literally brought it out of its hibernation and later the association worked with Microsoft to spread awareness about the latter's anti-piracy drive.

The Jalandhar Computer Dealers Association (JCDA) might not have been able to add any new members to its rolls though it represents 175 partners in the city. But its members were impressed with its various activities like holding a workshop on Linux, besides donating a PC to a school and provided funds to a member suffering from health problems. Despite this, it lost its #2 position from last year to settle at #5 because members were dissatisfied with the asso­ciation's policies and wanted more events to improve their knowledge base.

The next five
The Surat IT Association (SITA) too fell from #3 to #6 because members were not happy with the level of lobbying that the association did with governmental agencies and resolution of vendor related problems. The association managed to add only six percent more members in the last year and its current strength is 213 partners. But it got a lot of positive feedback for its successful IT exposition that witnessed good footfalls from the public.

Kolkata's Computer Asso­ciation of Eastern India (Compass) was another non-mover on the charts and stood at #7, despite having a successful expo. Members stated that the body was not proactive in resolving dealer issues and though the association has 270 members, only 50 of these are active.

The Baroda IT Association (BITA) moved up three places to settle at #8. Members gave it a positive feedback for the success of its annual exposition. Over 30 vendors participated at the event, which saw the footfalls of 1.5 lakh visitors.

The Madhya Pradesh Telecom and Computer Traders Association (MPTCTA) in Indore was the fastest mover in the entire listing. It improved its position from #16 in 2007 to #9 in 2007. With 60 of its 110 members active, the association had a successful exposition that saw the participation of 26 vendors.

The Panipat Computer Dealer Association (PCDA) was a new entrant and managed to hold its own at #10. The association worked hard to resolve service issues that its members faced with APC and HP. This won it good favor amongst respondents, placing it ahead of other associations that were in the reckoning.

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