CRN Channel Directions 2018 charts out new opportunities and possibilities for channel partners

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With a focus on new perspectives and fresh thinking on how to drive digital transformation, the two-day CRN Channel Directions, an annual conference of Indian Express group concluded on a positive note. The first event attracted over 200 participants, visionaries and stakeholders on a common platform successfully discussed and debated leading topics to foster an ecosystem to promote and drive digital transformation that will help channel partners to move away from traditional IT business to emerging technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, especially around connected devices in the IoT space.

The event addressed the key challenges faced by the industry and building the strategy for scalable, secure and efficient implementation, by determining which new technologies will drive the digital transformation to the next development stage. It also focused on the start-up ecosystem, partners who have made successful inroads by upskilling the workforce in the field of IoT, AI, and blockchain.

The key attraction of the event was the launch of the first print edition of CRN magazine, a monthly publication that caters to the Indian IT channel community, industry leaders, and visionaries.

Following the day 1 of power-packed sessions, the second day of the event continued to see an array of sessions. For instance, How Can Channel Partners Compete in a Digital World by Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst, Founder & CEO, Greyhound Research. Other sessions included CIO Masterclass by Hiren Shah, Head – Technology, Reliance General Insurance; Simplifying Enterprise Desktop Computing by Mohan Bhat, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Accops Systems; Building Technical Competencies to Remain Ahead of the Competition by Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Director, Astric Group; Digital Transformation with Modern Workplace Solutions by Suresh Ramani, CEO, Tech Gyan; My Entrepreneurial Journey – From a Partner to a Global Product Company by Alok Gupta, MD, Unistal Systems; Women in Technology by Nazmeen Ansari, CEO, Matrix3D Infocom; Maximizing the Value of Technological Investments by KrishnaRaj Sharma, Director & CEO, iValue InfoSolutions; DMS – How Can Partners Create Value for Businesses by Prachi Bhatnagar, General Manager, NetSpider Infotech India and Demystifying the Changing Cyber Security Landscape and Opportunities for the channel: N K Mehta, CEO & MD, Secure Network Solutions India.

The presentation by Sanchit Vir Gogia from Greyhound Research provided a holistic approach to partners on the new-age technologies like AL, ML, IoT and others and use of digital and social media channels as new-age sales tactics. He emphasized on learning the new skills and making them competitive to break the new grounds. In one of his slides, he questioned partners on if they are doing enough to first transform themselves internally, or they are too busy following the next PO.

 He highlighted, “With automation in full swing of creating an evolutionary disruption in the industry, it is imperative to define a growth path for the emerging markets across verticals and help them to be at par with the established players in the industry. Encouraging the development of this space, forums like Channel Directions empower the partners to address some of the evolving business opportunities.”

Hiren Shah, Head – Technology, Reliance General Insurance talked about new business avenues for partners in Fintech and various offerings for them.

Though the two-day event was full of discovery of new possibilities and building capabilities for partners, the presentation by Alok Gupta of Unistal received applauds from the house, when he narrated his entrepreneurial journey – From a Partner to a Global Indian Product Company. Gupta said, “Trust and honesty are the two pillar of his business and personal success.”

The high point of the event was its session on ‘Women in Technology’ by Nazmeen Ansari, CEO, Matrix3D Infocom. Ansari talks about the various contribution made by leading women in the corporate world and how IT industry is also becoming a ‘choice of Industry’ to work for the new age women.

Partners give thumbs up to CRNCD

While sharing his feedback on the event, RS Shanbhag, CMD, Valuepoint Group said, “The event was informative and sharing and learning the success stories of our peers and from industry leaders always helps us in bringing more clarity to our business. At Valuepoint, we are quite bullish by the success of our digital transformation. With the start-up ecosystem in India has already reached great heights and with the support of emerging technologies such as AI, ML, and analytics, the growth in this space has been exponential.”

Saket Kapur, Director, Green Vision from Delhi said, “It was an eye-opening event, with the new age technologies and startup companies, it is very prudent for traditional styled IT partners to start focusing on the new opportunities and gear up to be part of this new wave.”

VMware, Dell EMC, Redington, Kaspersky, Dlink, eScan, Digisol, Accops, Eset, and Checkpoint sponsored the event which was held in Hyderabad.

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