Bringing Optimism Back

Considered as one of the most popular events in Baroda, the IT Show 2003

organized by Baroda Information Technology Association (BITA) lived up to its

reputation of being a ‘crowd-puller’. The event, which was into its fourth

edition, was held from 24th to 26th January and was inaugurated by the Maharaja

of Baroda. It attracted nearly one lakh visitors with over 100 companies

participating. Though the overall market sentiments are low among Baroda channel

partners, the response to the IT Show has pumped optimism among them.

EXPECTATIONS

FROM THE EVENT



Though this year, the number of participating companies went down,

organizers nevertheless have claimed the event to be a success, considering the

rough times Gujarat, in general, is going through. Says Paritosh Mehta, BITA,

"Quite a few stall bookings made by IT training institutes were cancelled

at the last moment as they couldn’t honor their payment commitments."

Paritosh feels that this is only symbolic of the difficult conditions that the

IT community in Baroda is facing.

However, he is quick to add that the exhibition would help in giving the IT

business an impetus in the months to follow. Agrees Babul Desai, MD, Pulsive

Tech and Committee Member, BITA, "We are hopeful that in the next two-three

months, good amount of sales conversion from this event will happen."

The participating companies too expressed optimism on the outcome of the IT

Show. Some of these companies included LG, Frontech, Wipro, Zenith, The Best

among others. Says Hemant Jain of Frontech, "Though we are not focusing on

on-the-spot sales at this exhibition, we are sure that decent sales conversion

will happen in coming few months." He informs that exhibitions like these

have helped Frontech achieve a very strong mindshare as well as marketshare in

Gujarat.

LG was seen putting a strong focus on its MyPc at the event. "Going by

the popularity of the event, we decided to put at display the LCD variants of

MyPC as well," says Ajay Varshney, Asst Manager-Sales & Mktg (IT

Products), LG Electronics India. Ajay believed that events like these has helped

LG create top-of-the-mind recall among end-users.

THE CROWD-PULLERS



While majority of stalls displayed systems and peripherals, one which was

really attracting the junta was that of Compaq. Reason: large number of visitors

were getting their first glimpse of Tablet PC. Some were even fortunate to get

their hands on this trendy device. Another stall that was getting a lot of

attention was that of a multimedia training institute. Probably a sign that the

future ahead for IT training institutes may not be that bleak after all!

However,

what was unique about the exhibition was the large number of participation from

companies selling data media and consumables. Among consumables stall,

noticeable was the fact that majority of them were dealing with refilled

cartridges and toners. And that too at prices which were as low as Rs 80 for a

refilled black cartridge. Not only this, some were even selling refilling

devices!

Explains Babul, "In tough times like these, resellers have to resort to

unconventional business ideas to help them sustain. We can also see a number of

companies nowadays dealing in second-hand computers, assembled notebooks and

other low-value products."

Baroda has been dogged by issues like communal tensions and payment crisis in

the local IT market for quite some time now.

However, the BITA IT Show 2003 aimed to convey the message that the IT

community in the city is not giving up and is doing all that it can to sail safe

in the rough weathers.

GOLDIE