Diversion to solutions a need for dignified survival of resellers, concludes Confed ITA summit

Change is the law of life and the IT industry is not an exception to it. Considering the rapid transformations the channel, it is high time for the hardware professionals to look beyond the box pushing. The 8^th Confed ITA summit 2015 concluded with the message that a smart diversion to solution based industries is a demand for a dignified survival of the reseller community.

With an aim to strengthen and take the channel to the higher level of trust and commitment towards the Confederation, the Confederation of IT Associations in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry popularly known as Confed ITA, organised its annual summit on 23rd and 24th May, 2015. The two day knowledge packed conference, organised at exotic Confluence Resorts near Malabalipuram, Chennai, marked participation of 600 plus resellers and solution providers, prominent IT associations and vendors.

Channel voices for a ‘Fresh Morning’

The theme - Vidiyale Nokki’, which simply means ‘Looking for a fresh Morning!’ truly justified the conference. The 8^th Confed-ITA summit emphasised on innovative initiatives towards building up the member’s knowledge and skills aiming to eliminate the existing pessimistic approaches in the business. The summit assured the abundant opportunities to listen, connect and engage the triangle relationship between peers, the leadership team, Vendors and National and regional distributors.

Senthil Kumar M, president of Confed-ITA said, “We asked our members to divert to solution based industries to sustain their business. The sessions by industry veterans were aimed at bringing awareness about new and innovative ways of doing a business by giving value addition to the customers.”

Confedonline.com v/s OLS

Confed ITA vowed to intensify its battle against OLS in association with other trade associations in the state of Tamil Nadu. In its keynote address, chief guest Vikrama Raja, state president of Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peravai and vice president of Confederation of All India Trades association extended its full support and cooperation to Confed-ITA in its battle against unethical business practices by OLS portals.

“We extend our support to the Confed ITA in its battle against irregularities in online business. We are contemplating for a nationwide strike to support local traders. We are planning to have a meeting with the central government officials on the issue. After the meeting we will decide our next plan of action”, he said.

Flexing muscles against the online giants, Confed ITA officially launched its online portal confedonline.com. The online marketplace aims to encourage resellers to trade on a digital platform. Service is the integral part of confedonline.com which, according to the Confederation gives an edge over the other OSL sites which are aggressive only on predatory pricing and overlook the service part.

New leadership to take legacy ahead

The young and dynamic leadership of Confed ITA officially took over the reign of the Confederation. The old leadership hand over the responsibility of the Confederation to the new team. M. Senthil Kumar, president of the Chennai based Sneham IT Dealers Association accepted the charge of the president of Confed ITA. GV.Ramanan and J. Ramesh Kumar are the new Vice president and secretary respectively. P.Prabaharan and Pratheesh Mathew became the joint secretaries and T. Rajesh has been appointed as a treasurer of Confed ITA. The new leadership will take forward the legacy of the Confederation for the year 2015-16.

Confed ITA also launched a corporate health policy for its members and their families. It facilitated and honoured the associations and partners f0r their outstanding performance. Erode District Information Technology Association (EdITA) honoured with the ‘Best Association’ award for its contribution in the channel nourishment. Senthil Kumar said that the Confederation would continue its flagship initiatives like CSR activities and members training programs and would focus on connecting with the masses. The two day event was full of enthusiasm, quality sessions and full of energy where each the participant carried with him a baggage of knowledge and joy.