Channel Chief
“India will emerge as the largest market for NComputing by 2012”
 NComputing is betting big on India, its second largest market after US. During his recent India visit, the company’s Chairman and CEO Stephen Dukker spoke to Tabrez Khan on the importance of the Indian market to NComputing’s global ambitions and discussed channel strategy
Reportedly, the US economy is back on the growth path. What is your sense of the global economic scenario and demand in the IT industry?
Notwithstanding the global economic slowdown, India and China have shown strong growth and have been leaders among the emerging economies. Business growth in India has been robust and acceptance for new products here is better than any other market in the world. Overall, on a global level, the demand in this quarter has revived to a great extent. Only regions struggling in my view are Eastern Europe and Russia, which are now slowly picking up.
NComputing’s own business has proven to be counter cyclical. We grew at a time when the overall economy was very weak. Our solutions reduce cost and improve efficiency. So in a weak economy, businesses and institutions reacted positively to our solutions. In the US education sector, for instance, budgets were cut by as much as 30 percent, yet our deployments grew
by 50 percent. We have been more or less immune to the recession.
So the economic slowdown has helped you grow?
Yes, that is correct. Many CIOs of very large corporations say to me that two years ago they would never have considered NComputing. But the economic crisis forced them to be price-sensitive and they opted for our cost-effective technology. But once they experience our technology, they love it. Going forward, in November and December, we are going to announce some very significant deployments within large corporations.
You have been very strong in the education and SMB markets. Your engagement with large corporations is just beginning, why is that so?
For any new technology, the corporate market takes at least 2-3 years to gauge benefits. They seek proof of the robustness of technology and sustainability of the company providing it, more than an educational institution. Education does not buy like enterprise; once they are satisfied with the technology, they deploy it quickly.
The wait and watch period in the enterprise segment is finally over for us. It will be evident from some large deals we have signed up or are in the process of signing. You will hear about it very soon.
What is your view of the desktop virtualization market in India?
India is the second largest market for NComputing after US. We have already deployed 2,00,000 seats here and we will more than double that figure in 2010. By 2012, we expect the Indian market to surpass the US in terms of units deployed. The Indian market is unique in terms of the challenges related to power availability and consumption, and also the emphasis companies place on efficiency while deploying any new technology. Therefore, the acceptance for desktop virtualization has been much faster than any other market in the world, including the US.
How are you differentiating yourself from other desktop virtualization companies?
I think we are already unique as we provide an end to end solution, right from the hardware to the protocol and the virtualization software. Other companies just piece together hardware, software and the protocol from various vendors. So, although it’s a working solution, it does not give the user a full multimedia experience on a thin-client like we do.
At $70, we offer a solution that not only provides a full desktop experience on a thin client, but also
saves up to 50-75 percent on hardware cost and up to 90 percent on electricity cost. We make desktop virtualization simple, unlike other companies that put the pieces together and offer a basic computing capability.
What is your channel set-up like and are you aiming to expand your partner network?
We are a 100 percent channel focused company that does not do any direct deals. We work with a set of partners and we have a two-tier distribution system. We have two large distribution partners in India—Redington and Prime—who in turn have a large network of dealers across the country that help sell our solutions to the end-users.
We are certainly looking to expand our channel network, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where we currently do not have a presence. I think given the scarcity of power and affordability challenges in these cities, our product will be even more relevant to businesses there. Channel partners who have a certain level of understanding of networking, the ability to explain the desktop virtualization concept, and make product demonstrations are welcome to join us.
What is your advice to partners in India?
I think Indian channel partners are smart businessmen. It’s only in India that they can make money by selling PCs, no where else does that happen.
Dealers often ask me why they should sell an NComputing product, which is one-fourth the cost of a desktop PC. I tell them that they can earn the same $30 by selling a $300 PC or selling an NComputing device. The only difference is that the capital required in case of desktop PCs would be huge compared to that in case of NComputing.
The market for desktop virtualization solutions is expanding fast and I would advise channel partners to participate with us in this growth story. |