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North

 OST Electronics

Elliot Stechman, Managing Director, EK Wireless, presenting the award to Pawan Kumar Gautam, Director, OST Electronics

In FY2009-10, Chandigarh-based OST Electronics posted a turnover of Rs 42.5 crore, growing by almost 50 percent over its FY2008-09 topline of Rs 28.4 crore. Turnover from its sub-distribution business stood at Rs 38.5 crore as compared to Rs 26.2 crore in the previous fiscal; the remaining Rs 4 crore came from corporate reselling and providing solutions to end customers.

The company owed its robust growth to the good performance of its peripherals portfolio, particularly display from AOC and printers from Canon. The company also added products from Cyberoam and WeP during the year.

Performance Highlights

• Posted topline of Rs 42.5 crore • Partnered with Cyberoam and WeP • Worked closely with large SIs like HCL, Wipro and Siemens • Extended TSG services to partners to help them execute technology- driven projects • Migrated to SAP B1 • Was recognized as a Champion Distributor by D-Link, and upgraded to Platinum Partner by both Canon and AOC

Company Snapshot

Company: OST Technologies MD: Dinesh Sharma Year of inception: 1994 Turnover 2009-10: Rs 42.5 crore Turnover 2008-09: Rs 28.4 crore Employees: 79 Certified employees: 26 No of active resellers : 345 Principals: AOC, Canon, WeP, Cyberoam, Trend Micro, D-Link, Digilink, 3Com, eScan

With a network of six branches in Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Delhi, OST has an active base of 345 resellers mostly selling to SMBs and corporates. Nearly 65 percent of the company’s revenue comes from peripherals, while the remaining comes from networking and security products. Said Dinesh Sharma, Managing Director, OST, “Our strategy last year was to work closely on large projects with large systems integrators such as HCL, Wipro and Siemens. We also opened a new branch in Delhi which boosted our sales. Our TSG (Technology Support Group) has good competency in the networking and security domains, hence our TSG services were extended to our partners for executing technology-driven projects. This helped them to take on larger projects and complete them on time.”

OST regards its TSG as a key differentiator. “Over the past few years we have invested significantly in creating the TSG which today consists of 26 certified pre-sales and technical employees. The TSG not only helps our internal sales and support teams but even those of partners to provide customer-centric solutions,” explained Sharma. An ISO 9001:2000 certified company, OST migrated to SAP Business One during the early part of 2009. “The move to SAP B1 greatly benefited the company with instant updation and reporting of inventory, billing, outstandings, credit management and sales performance without any redundancy factors,” Sharma said.

In 2009 the company was recognized as a Champion Distributor by D-Link, and upgraded to Platinum Partner by both Canon and AOC. The company’s priority for the current fiscal includes further expanding its branch footprint in the north by setting up operations in Uttarakhand. On the products front, OST plans to add wireless connectivity solutions. It also has plans to boost its services business, including facility management services.

East

 Nigama Computech and Services

Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Director, Nigama Computech and Services

Bhubaneswar-based Nigama Computech and Services grew by 11 percent to post a turnover of Rs 42 crore against last fiscal’s topline of Rs 38 crore. Revenues from sub-distribution business stood at Rs 32 crore, growing by 28 percent from Rs 25 crore in FY2008-09. The remaining revenues came from retail business (Rs 7 crore), corporate reselling (Rs 2 crore) and services (Rs 1 crore).

The company attributed its growth to addition of new vendors, strengthening of relationships with existing ones and demand from upcountry locations. “Last year we were appointed as Lenovo regional distributor, partner for Microsoft and authorized partner for Samsung laser printers. Further more, we strengthened our relationships with HP, Asus and AOC which contributed significantly to our growth. We also deepened our reach in several upcountry locations,” said Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Director, Nigama Computech and Services.

Performance Highlights

• Grew by 11 percent to post a turnover of Rs 42 crore • Signed up with Lenovo as regional distributor, Microsoft and Samsung for laser printers • PCs contributed 45 percent to the company’s overall revenues • Deepened distribution reach in several upcountry locations • Deployed Tally ERP in order to streamline its business

Company Snapshot

Company: Nigama Computech and Services CEO: Parikshita Das Year of inception: 1999 Turnover 2009-10: Rs 42 crore Turnover 2008-09: Rs 38 crore Employees: 45 No. of active resellers: 250 Principals: HP, Lenovo, Acer, AOC, Samsung, Intel, Segate, Hitachi, Asus, Microsoft

In order to make inroads in the upcountry markets the company invested in creating the service and support infrastructure. “In a market like Orissa a large part of upcountry locations don’t have reliable warranty support. Realizing this we used support services as a strategy to grow our business there,” opined Sahoo.

Overall, PCs contributed 45 percent to the company’s overall revenues. The company is a regional distributor for Lenovo, authorized sub-distributor for Acer and a T2 partner for HP. Peripherals contributed the second largest chunk of 20 percent to the topline. Nigama is a Silver partner for AOC while an authorized sub-distributor for Samsung lasers. Components including processors, motherboards, and HDD contributed 20 percent to the topline. The company is an Asus Royal partner and premier partner for Intel and Seagate.

Microsoft OEM business, which the company signed up for in 2009, contributed a significant 8 percent. The remaining 7 percent came from accessories and options.

The company also deployed Tally ERP in order to streamline its business, which Sahoo claims has helped in savings costs. “We increased our overall business profitability by 60 percent as the ERP gave us better control over inventory and credit management and also automated our internal processes of billing, collections and sales,” he opined.

In the current fiscal the company plans to further improve its channel network in upcountry locations and focus on growing its software business.

West

 Mainframe Computers

Sanjay Agrawal, Director, Mainframe Computers, receiving the award

Aurangabad-based Mainframe Computers posted a topline of Rs 19.5 crore in FY2009-10 as against Rs 16 crore in FY2008-09. Of this, turnover from sub-distribution stood at Rs 17.3 crore, up from Rs 14.3 crore in the previous fiscal, a growth of 21 percent.

The company attributed its growth in sub-distribution business to major focus on notebooks, strong growth in productlines from its top 10 vendors, branch expansion, and addition of new productline. “We saw almost 20 percent growth in our notebook business primarily led by Dell. We set up a new branch in Waluj industrial area which contributed to growth,” said Sanjay Agrawal, Director, Mainframe Computers. The company also signed up with Intex for their entire range of products including PCs and peripheral.

Performance Highlights

• Became the regional distributor for Intex for its entire range of products in the Vidarbha region • Opened a branch in Waluj Industrial area which contributed to the revenue • Sales of Dell notebooks boosted growth • Saw significant growth in components which raked in 40 percent of the turnover

Company Snapshot

Company: Mainframe Computers Director: Sanjay Agrawal Year of inception: 1991 No. of branches: 2 Turnover 2009-10: Rs 19.5 crore Turnover 2008-09: Rs 16 crore Employees: 26 Certified employees: 6 Principals: Dell, LG, Seagate, Intel, Intex, HP, Microsoft, D-Link, IBM, Acer, Intex

With a network of over 400 resellers covering 8 districts of the Marathwada region, Mainframe Computers garnered a 35 percent of its business from PCs with notebooks contributing nearly two-third of it. Component business raked in 20 percent, while software including antivirus contributed 10 percent each. Peripherals and PC accesories contributed 15 percent. Top four brands—Dell, LG, Intel and Seagate—contributed 60 percent to the topline.

“Contrary to popular perception the assembled PC market has shown tremendous growth and this has benefited the components business,” informed Agrawal.

The company has deployed Tally ERP 9 using which it has created an online inventory management process for complete monitoring of the movement of goods. The company follows a stringent credit rating process. Last year the company also restructured its teams to drive sales, product and brand wise.

In order to effectively communicate and inform its partner network, the company started with the practice of providing daily price list on the website, which Agrawal says has become a reference for even vendors. In addition the company sends technology updates and new products updates to partners every fortnight using an EDM and SMSes,” claimed Agrawal.

Last year, the company won awards as the largest sub-distributor in the Marathwada region from Dell and Intex.

In the current fiscal, Mainframe plans to focus on high-end notebooks and netbooks, home networking products and PC accessories. Also the company will continue to improve its processes to further increase operational efficiency.

South

 Bloom Electronics

S Karthikeyan, Managing Director, Bloom Electronics, receiving the trophy

Demonstrating an impressive growth, Coimbatore-based Bloom Electronics posted revenues of Rs 82.2 crore in direct sales and Rs 23.2 crore in indirect billing for Dell business, thus taking the company gross sales turnover to Rs 105 crore in FY2009-10 as compared to direct-sales turnover of Rs 65.7 crore during the previous fiscal. The company attributed its growth to a strong growth in Dell and Samsung business, addition of new products, and innovative channel marketing initiatives.

“Dell business grew by more than 100 percent last year contributing 60 percent to revenues from sub-distribution. In the 15 districts of TN where we sub-distribute Samsung monitors, we have achieved more than 50 percent market share,” said S Karthikeyan, MD, Bloom Electronics. The company added Apple iPhones and Belkin networking range to its products portfolio.

Performance Highlights

• Posted revenues of Rs 82.2 crore in direct sales and Rs 23.2 crore in indirect billing for Dell business • Dell business grew by more than 100 percent contributing 60 percent to sub-distribution business • Notebooks accounted for nearly 55 percent of the company’s revenues, while components contributed 30 percent • Added Apple iPhones and Belkin networking range to its products portfolio

Company Snapshot

Company: Bloom Electronics MD: S Karthikeyan Year of inception: 1991 No. of branches: 1 Turnover 2008-09: Rs 82.2 crore Turnover 2007-08: Rs 65.7 crore Employees: 65 Certified employees: 5 Principals: Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Apple, Sony, Toshiba, Belkin, Logitech, Intel, Seagate, Microsoft

Notebooks accounted for nearly 55 percent of the company’s sales revenues, while components contributed 30 percent; peripherals sales accounted for 7 percent while software contributed 5 percent and desktops contributed a mere 3 percent. With a strong reseller network of 300 across 25 districts of Tamil Nadu, the company ran some innovative reseller schemes. “One of the most successful schemes was to reward partners with a Cruise holiday for family for selling as low as five notebooks. This made smaller retailers in smaller locations eligible for the scheme and boosted our revenues significantly,” claims Karthikeyan. The company ran regular partner meets in different districts of the state.

Bloom spent a significant percent of its topline in marketing and advertising. “We invest heavily in advertising in local media in different districts for generating demand for our partners in order to facilitate faster sell out to customers. Our goal is to ensure partner profitability which makes both of us grow,” opines Karthikeyan. As the president of pan-Tamil Nadu channel association Confed ITA, Karthikeyan conceptualized a project called SOUL (Stand on Ur Legs) for the welfare of the channel community. “Under the program, Confed ITA members contribute 0.1 percent of their monthly billing to the SOUL fund to provide free life insurance to all the members, their employees and also for the education of their children. Bloom was the first to contribute its share,” shared Karthikeyan. In the current fiscal, Bloom intends to further add new products in the digital lifestyle space to its portfolio and increase its channel penetration in the remotest towns of its distribution territory.

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