| Outstanding Channel Contribution |
Presented by
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Power of simplicty
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Dhaval Valia, Executive Editor, CRN, presenting the award to Bharat Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director, Tally Solutions
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The CRN Outstanding Channel Contribution Award for 2010 was presented to Bharat Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director, Tally Solutions.
Chosen by the editorial board of CRN, the award is a tribute to industry captains who through their continuous initiatives and hard work have contributed significantly to the creation, expansion and nurturing of the IT channel business.
Goenka, the man behind Tally, the accounting software, is among the rare few who have created an indigenous software product which has achieved a cult status in its segment. Indeed, Tally has become a generic name, and enjoys a penetration and installed base that is second only to Microsoft Windows.
This success has been achieved largely because of Goenka’s strong belief in the channel model. “The success of Tally must be attributed to our channels. Our channel model is unique. Many of our partners became customers first and then partners,” said Goenka.
The company has a network of over 13,000 Tally Partners across the country; this is larger than the networks of many widely-distributed brands such as HP and Microsoft. Tally has been among the first to have a multi-level partner program which is focused on creating an entire ecosystem of partners including ISVs, large integrators, and sales and training partners.
This wasn’t the case when the product was launched under the Peutronics brand in 1986. Large
companies had their own accounting software then, while there were several smaller brands which had their respective strongholds in different regional markets.
What’s more, IT wasn’t the core business of the Goenkas. “Our main business was manufacturing parts for textile mills. Peutronics (which later became Tally) was a diversification of the family business in 1986. It became the only family business after our manufacturing unit was gutted in a fire accident,” recalled Goenka.
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Milestones
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1986: Diversifies into IT by forming Peutronics Limited
1988: First version of the financial accounting software is launched branded as PFA
1990: Rebranded to Tally in consultation with O&M
1991: Introduced partner program in keeping with the vision of selling to million businesses
1993: Exponential volume growth with the launch of the Windows version of Tally
1998: Becomes a market leader in the business accounting space beating large player like TCS EX
2002: Launches multilingual Tally
2006: Launches Tally Application Platform for ISVs to develop applications around Tally
2007: Crosses the 1000 Tally Academy mark
2009: Tally ERP 9 launched
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“My father, Shyam Sunder Goenka, believed that accounting software should be a decision-making tool for businessmen,” Goenka explained. “His vision was to make a tool which had all the elements of accounting and could be used on a computer. At the same time, it had to be simple so that millions of small entrepreneurs with little or no computer literacy could use it. The other rule which my father set for the development team was to make a product which was accounting on the computer and not computerized accounting—which he believed was what other products at that time were.”
In fact, the first version of the accounting software was disapproved by SS Goenka as he felt that it was too technical to use. Eventually, the development team came out with what was recognized as the first codeless accounting software. Little wonder then that the company’s tagline over the years has been, Power of Simplicity.
Thus began the journey to make India’s biggest software product brand. The product took two years to develop, and was launched as PFA 1.2. “Initially we had no plans to sell through channels,” said Goenka. “Our small team of eight people used to approach customers directly to sell. All of us, including my father, would sit with individual prospects and help them understand the product. Along the way, many customers who used our product fell in love with it and wanted to be a part of its propagation chain. We too realized that our dream of reaching a million customers could only be achieved through partners.”
By 1993, Tally had edged past its bigger competitors. “My father and I invested substantially in creating a strong partner network,” Goenka said. “We placed emphasis on partner training because we believed that only if a partner knew the product inside-out could he convince a prospective customer.”
Of the 13,000 Tally Partners which the company has, 120 are Master Tally Partners, 300 are Associate Master Tally Partners (local sub-distributors), and 900 are Tally Service Providers who cater to various service requirements like implementation, data migration and training.
In addition, the company has 90 Tally Integrators, partners who offer customization services around the solutions. The company also has 1,100 Tally centers that provide Tally-trained accountants. Today, there are more professionals trained in Tally than in any other software product. It is even included in the curriculum of the Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants for students taking up their articleship.
“We are completely channel-driven, and almost every bit of business we have done over the years has been through our partners,” said a proud Goenka.
“Our channel network consisting of sales, technology, training and application partners is well-evolved and leveraged.”
Undeterred by the competition from large MNC players in the ERP space, Tally took a leap into this segment and in a short span of two years has managed to create a niche for itself—again, due to its emphasis on a simple, feature-rich and easy-to-use product, and also due to its partner program. Further, Tally has partnered with IBM and Dell, and is thus creating more opportunities for wider partner ecosystem.
According to Goenka, Tally ERP was a logical progression from the accounting software. “Many of the small customers who used Tally had grown into relatively large businesses and their needs had graduated from simple accounting to company-wide automation and resource planning. Many such customers came to us saying that the existing products from MNCs were too expensive and difficult to deploy, use and manage. Tally is a brand they trusted, hence they recommended us to look at the ERP segment. The new product owes its success to the fact that we understand these small and medium businesses better than anyone else because they have been our customers for so long.”
Goenka has a simple recipe for success—keep customers and partners happy. “It may sound like a cliché, but that’s what our philosophy at Tally Solutions is. Every person at Tally believes in this, and they come to work every morning to ensure that anyone touching Tally goes away happier.”
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