My impressions of Mr Dutt

y Dhaval Valia

Last week was interesting for me as I was invited to interview Sunil Dutt. While CRN has been pushing for an exclusive interview for the last two months, the invitation to meet him came suddenly.

On short notice I flew to Delhi. Just like most partners, I too went into the meeting with a certain opinion about him. After all, there has been so much discussion about the man and what he has done ever since he took over as the head of HP’s PSG.

I was pleasantly surprised when he said that he would like to do the interview without the presence of any corporate communications person. Usually, when you interview a senior person like Dutt, and that too on some controversial issue, you have the corp comm manager at the meeting to diplomatically deflect uncomfortable questions.

We went to a restaurant near the HP office in Gurgaon and chatted for almost four hours over an extended lunch. I was as blunt as ever, and began the interview by listing the main allegations made by partners.

Throughout the interview he exuded the calm that comes from being sure of doing the right thing. Dutt believes that the new distribution structure will make business more profitable for HP partners, and this is clearly the driving force behind his conviction that the new model will work.

He answered all my questions with clarity. However, his reply to one question wasn’t very convincing, and this concerned HP’s alleged policy of requiring its authorized T1 and T2 partners to be brand-exclusive. While Dutt said that there was no such policy, partners have been suggesting otherwise.

The sense I got is that brand exclusivity was very much part of what Dutt had in mind, but seeing the strong objections by many leading sub-distributors he has been compelled to review. I don’t think Dutt anticipated this kind of resistance by T2 players. He probably under-estimated the influence of T2 players in the PC segment, and over-estimated the role of telecom distributors.

Dutt told me he is planning to go on tour to meet partners and get their feedback about the new distribution model. His first stop is going to be Kochi, where the model has met with the strongest opposition.

During the interview I became convinced that Dutt has noble intentions, and that his strategy is aimed at ensuring partner profitability.

However, as I have written previously, a man is eventually judged not by his intentions but by his actions. The next three months is when Dutt’s actions will matter the most if he aims to make his new strategy work.

As for partners, I would like to say to them that the man has the right intentions, but to turn his intentions into actions, he would also need their strong support.

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Comments

8/21/2010 12:53:32 PM

Hi Dhaval, On understanding of the new Distribution Policy with HP officials, there is no doubt that the policy is very benefical for the channel. But the concern is that the channel which has been with HP through all the thick and thin has been neglected in this policy. New partners from the telecom Industry are the most benefitted lot. Isn t it unfair to the partners who have been with HP all through these years? While selecting T1 in a city like Mumbai, IT partners were not even considered. Even 3 out of 4 T2 partners in Mumbai are Telecom Partners. Still do you feel the intentions are right?

- Satish Bathija,Mx Information Systems Pvt. Ltd.,Mumbai

7/29/2010 7:07:37 PM

Sunil Dutt probably knows what's best for partners. But he has handled the entire fiasco with the maturity of a school boy. He should have taken the media and partners first into confidence and then announced the plans. But the whole secrecy and not giving anything in writing is frankly very stupid. Now it will be next to impossible to get his act right, because 90% partners don't trust HP anymore

- Gurunath SK,,Bangalore

7/28/2010 7:07:03 PM

Mr. Valia, your editorials are interesting and unbaised. I personally connect very well with what you write. Mr. Dutt understood immediately on assuming office that HP has good "product pull" but neither T1 or T2 makes any money. He has shown exemplary vision by revamping The Set distribution policy. He has shown the intentions and to convert it in action he needs a team which believes in this model and gives it's 100%. I believe this shall be beneficial to entire IT industry. I also do not understand the protest made by certain IT associations. I think HP has all the right to set it own distribution policy. HP is not forcing anyone to sell it products. People who do not like the new distribution model should look for other brands

- Ajay Jalan,Trade & Technology Pvt Ltd,Dibrugarh

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My impressions of Mr Dutt

By Dhaval Valia

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