Associations have a long way to go

The one big conclusion, which has come from this year's DQC-IDC
Channel Association Survey, is the fact that our associations are far away from
maturity and they have a long way to go before they can truly claim to have
arrived. In fact, the associations are still in the evolutionary stage, which is
something they need to get out off quickly.

The second edition of our annual association survey covers 28
associations, up from 26 from last year. In fact, we have added three new
associations-PCAIT, JITA and GIBA-at the same time we dropped one-Sneham-from
last year. The basic premise behind selecting which association to cover was how
active it was. Precisely for this reason we dropped Sneham, which is almost
defunct, and added three new, which are pretty active.

Asim Raina Editor

Interestingly, out of the 26 associations covered last year, 14
have slipped down and only 10 have been able to improve their respective
rankings. The biggest loser was Kanpur's KCDA, which dropped 19 places to end
up at the bottom as compared to the ninth position it had last year. Other big
losers were Coimbatore's CCDA-dropping 17 ranks-and Cochin's AKCMADA,
which went down 14 positions.

On the other hand, the biggest gainer has been Bhubaneswar's
ITAO, which jumped 19 places followed by Surat's SITA-16 places-and
Jalandhar's JCDA with a gain of 14. This also reinforces the fact that
associations in smaller places are much more active and effective then the ones
in the larger cities.

However, the biggest surprise of the year came from a metro.
Mumbai's TAIT, one of the oldest association, claimed the top honors, up from
the fifth rank it had last year. Although it scored low on analyst evaluation,
in member feedback it got high marks. Come to think of it, this is not
surprising as TAIT was pretty active last year resolving member issues as well
as conducting member welfare programs.

But undoubtedly, the association, which can say it has truly
arrived, has to be Delhi's PCAIT. Surveyed for the first time, it got the 11th
ranking, ahead of other metro associations like Chennai's ITTA and Bangalore's
AIT. This is something creditable but certainly not surprising, as within a
short period of one year, PCAIT has well and truly emerged as the voice of the
capital's channel community. Its way of working and best practices are
something, which other associations would do well to emulate.

Finally, the one big lesson for all the associations is-listen to your
members concerns and do exactly what they need to enhance their business.