The Mission Critical Infrastructure Solution (MCIS) business arm of Delta Power Solutions India is looking to grow its current sizable 30 percent of channel business contribution to 50 percent in the next two years. MCIS is one of the fast-growing businesses of the parent company and cuts across segments from home to large companies.
Delta has taken a two-pronged strategy with respect to the MCIS business. Today close to 70 percent of the business is handled by the direct team of Delta and the remaining is driven by channel partners. In the last one year, this division has revamped its channel focus and introduced a new channel friendly policy. Deepak Singh Thakur, who heads the MCIS business and Rohit Dutta, National Channel Head believe that the channel contribution can be scaled to 50 percent by 2020. Globally, Delta is restructuring its channel business and entering into countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Srilanka.
Building the channel business
Traditionally the MCIS business was managed by the direct team and the scope for the channel was limited, but in last one year, the company has seen the channel becoming more mature for its range of products. Previously the channel business was small, and it was used to supply the products to the partners directly, but as the pie of channel got bigger, the company added a distribution layer into the model and appointed Ingram Micro and Iris Computer as the two national distributors. In addition to the national distributors, Delta has 50 loyal ASPs and more than 150 VARs.
“Last year we billed close to over 200 partners and this year we are expecting billing to exceed 300 partners. Channel design and channel management are important elements in Delta’s competitiveness. Our focus is on building the channel ecosystem and by 2020, our vision is to have 50 percent of our business coming from channel partners,” says Rohit Dutta, National Channel Head, Delta Power Solutions.
More products for partners
Although there is no product and solution differentiation in terms of the enterprise and the channel line of business, Delta offers a wide range of products for the partners that include UPS, Icool rack solution, PDU, STS, solar inverters, video walls, and projectors. “In line with our channel focus, we have also expanded the product offerings to our partners. Earlier, the channel used to sell only UPS up to 40kVA and now they can buy and sell up to 120 kVA , Icool rack solution, PDU, STS whereas the enterprise vertical products are 120 kVA and above,” informs Deepak Singh Thakur, Head, MCIS Business.
The company feels that the fragmentation of the business will allow the enterprise team to go deeper and stronger with large customers and explore new opportunities. At the same time, the channel too has opened avenues for new segments like retail, pharma, medical OEMs, media and entertainment industry, banking, hospitality, education, government and smart cities.
Expanding reach
By going indirect, the company has added new cities to its fold and moved beyond metros. “This year, we are going to put new resources in select Class C cities and our overall reach this year will be in more than 70 cities,” adds Dutta.
“We are a strong believer in channels, and we have tasted the success of the channel in our industrial automation business. The core message to our existing and new partners is that Delta is a very open and flexible power brand. We have a highly motivated channel team. We are getting more competition partners into our fold. Today every business is becoming critical and digitized. Hence, every organization needs to operate all the time which in turn demands a reliable and strong power back up a solution,” concludes Thakur.
