Go Global

How to flourish as an IT industry channel partner and reseller in the global market

- Dr. Archana Verma

IT industry functions primarily by SIs, channel partners, franchisees and retailers. There is very few direct marketing to the end users in this industry. While multinationals have been gaining entry in the Indian market through this system, they also face some bottlenecks. Besides, because of the fast changing profile of the IT sector, Indian channel partners and others don’t always find it a lucrative business. Further, lately this idea has been growing that in addition to bringing the multinational products and solutions in the Indian market, India should have its own capabilities in the IT sector. In order to help the Indian IT sector grow, it’s imperative for the channels to take their businesses in the global market. In our previous issue, we had discussed the diverse layered channel and reselling models operational today. In this article, we discuss some dynamics of operating as channel partners in the global market, which the Indian channel partners and resellers can use.

CHANGING PATTERNS

Nowadays, with a plethora of online information available freely to the consumers, today’s consumers gain information for themselves by doing online survey and don’t always rely on what the reseller campaign tells them about the IT products or services. In the case of large organisations, they have access to IT experts who give them advice about purchase of an IT product or solution. Hence, any marketing campaign takes a long time to bear effect, unless supported by the experts in the relevant field in the IT industry.

Channel partners and resellers expect the consumers to change their mind sets with the changing technology. But they also need to change simultaneously. Instead of replacing a junior sales person who thinks differently, they perhaps need to replace a senior marketing person to keep in tune with the changing market and consumer behaviour.