|
Kandarp Jhala
AVP, National Channel
D-Link India
From the technology perspective, 2008 was an important year that saw new trends setting in for the wired and wireless networking space. Wired networking moved from Fast Ethernet toward Gigabit Ethernet, and from unmanaged switches toward Web GUI-based smart switches. 10G Ethernet was widely adopted in large enterprises.
Wireless networking saw Wi-Fi 802.11N gaining ground over 802.11g and slowly emerging as the preferred technology. More devices continued to be Wi-Fi enabled, including mobile phones, media players, storage devices and print servers.
While routing and switching continue to be the dominant technologies, with the growing concerns about security, IP-based surveillance and security solutions are gathering critical mass to become the next important trend in the networking industry in 2009. On the cabling front, Cat6A has seen its initial adoption plateau, while Cat6 is increasingly replacing Cat5 in all future requirements. Cat6 is expected to be the mainstay technology for 2009. On the fiber front, OM2 cables and OS1 cables would be the major technologies in 2009.
With the deployment of more networks there has been growth in power consumption as well as heat dissipation. In addition, there has been a rise in the use of hazardous substances for manufacturing and packaging networking products. This has affected the environment in terms of utilization of valuable resources, hence green computing is going to be an important area of investment for many organizations.
While we do see a slowdown in some industry verticals, there are technology-specific growth areas cutting across all verticals. Customers are a little cautious while making buying decisions. They prefer to go for technology which will safeguard their investments and business processes. This means they will continue to invest in technologies such as network security and surveillance, along with basic infrastructure. Customers will also prefer to go for solutions that offer value for money rather than opting for brands.
Opportunities and uncertainties
New opportunities are evolving in the areas of network security and surveillance, and in verticals such as education, government and hospitality. More business opportunities are likely to emerge from the small and medium entities based in smaller cities. Channels must focus on increasing sales and services revenue.
2008 has been a year of uncertainties. Prices of copper rose rapidly in the initial part of the year, then started falling even faster in the latter half. The rupee rose against the US dollar at the start of the year, then dropped almost 25 percent in a very short period during the latter half of 2008. Managing inventories, rolling stocks and ensuring adequate stocking—of the right kind of products—were the key challenges.
There is also a slowdown in customer decision-making, and cautious customers may be reluctant to pay huge amounts for just a brand without any value addition.
We will advise our channels to stick to the basics, increase sales in their own customer base, and focus on skill-development among team members because it will be a major differentiator. They must also venture into technology areas which are going to be the need of the hour, for example, network security and surveillance.
Our initiatives
In 2008 D-Link was the first networking vendor globally to introduce green Ethernet switches as well as green Wi-Fi, and we maintain the leadership in this new segment. We will introduce many new products which will consume less power, generate less heat, be RoHS-compliant, and come in recyclable packaging material.
Skill development among partners is another key initiative for us. We will be enrolling more partners for our certification process which has been updated to include a lot of new tech innovations in the networking industry.
<< back
|