Growth…Growth…Growing Strong

A generally held belief asserts that all the contestants in a fray cannot be winners. Since performance always depends on both strengths and strategies, those who are able to synchronize them in the best possible manner will be the winners.

Though IT industry is riding its workhorses towards the direction of growth, even the majors in the industry encountered testing times. While some have managed to surmount them, a few have withered away in the rush of competition.

As the years advance, the IT industry will have to come out with intelligent strategies that can be adopted to the changing market scenarios. The fiscal 1999-2000 saw a tough competition among channels to distribute and sell products and technologies.

Here is an overview of the accomplishments of the members of the CI Silver Club who managed their men and money to keep pace with the time and to touch the tape first. The revenue of top players has been calculated and ranks have been accorded. Nothing to exaggerate, nothing to belittle.

Same ladder, different rungs

Some of the agency revenue toppers have reported much lesser growth rate when compared to certain companies with lower agency revenue but with almost double the former’s growth. For instance, Tech Pacific, the highest agency revenue earner in 1999-2000 with Rs 1171.5 crore has achieved 61 percent growth. But, Accel ICIM System & Services who is ranked 17 in the list, achieved a 145 percent growth in agency revenue.

The first five of the CI Silver Club saw a growth of 72 percent, garnering Rs 3,184.3 crore of agency revenue during 1999-2000 as compared to Rs 1,848 crore in the previous year

(see graph for rankings based on growth rate in agency revenue).

The remaining twenty companies in the CI Silver Club registered an average agency revenue growth of 49 percent to the tune of Rs 1670.88 crore in 1999-2000, up from the previous year’s Rs 1123 crore.

The performance of the companies those who are into distribution as well as systems integration and reselling, was better than those who are purely into distribution. The former, which include fourteen companies, registered a growth of 66.24 percent in agency revenue in the year 1999-2000, while the latter, which include eleven companies, recorded a growth of 61.34 percent during the same fiscal.

Competitive regions

Region-wise, the west topped the chart with a whopping agency revenue of Rs 2,277.6 crore in year 1999-2000 over the previous Rs 1,545.7 crore. The southern region stood second in agency revenue with Rs 1,908.1 crore in 1999-2000 in comparison to the previous Rs 1,003.7 crore.

Ranked third in the list is north with an agency revenue of Rs 623.9 crore during 1999-2000 over the previous Rs 396.6 crore. The eastern region ranks fourth with an agency revenue of Rs 45.6 crore in 1999-2000 against Rs 25 crore of the previous year.

The southern region, which has a representation of seven companies from the top twenty-five, has registered the highest growth of 90 percent in the year 1999-2000. The north is represented by four companies who manage a 57 percent growth.

However, region-wise analysis does not give the right growth perspective for any particular region, since an uneven representation of each region. For instance, the thirteen companies from the western region register an agency revenue growth of 47 percent during 1999-2000. Whereas, the eastern region which is represented only by one company, Superton Electronics Pvt Ltd, posts a growth of 82 percent during the fiscal 1999-2000 (see pie-chart for region-wise distribution of revenue).

Their endeavors and accomplishments

Topping the CI Silver Club in terms of agency revenue growth is Ingram Micro India. The company's agency revenue zoomed up 217 percent to Rs 479.1 crore during 1999-2000 from the previous year's Rs 151.2 crore. The total revenue, which stood at Rs 160.5 crore in 1998-1999 surged to Rs 486.4 crore posting a growth rate of 203 percent.

Chennai-based Accel ICIM System & Services, ranked second in terms of agency revenue growth and third in total revenue growth, registered 145 percent growth in agency revenue to the tune of Rs 70.4 crore in 1999-2000 mainly because of its merger with ICIM Fujistsu.. The total revenue of the company grew 108 percent to Rs 120.2 crore from the previous Rs 57.8 crore.

Having posted a growth of 127 percent, Delhi-based OA Compserve Pvt Ltd is ranked third in terms of agency revenue growth. During 1999-2000 the company, which is purely into distribution, registered an agency revenue of Rs 55 crore against Rs 24.2 crore of the previous year. In terms of total revenue, OA Compserve ranks second.

Ranked fourth is Mumbai-based Minicomp Ltd with an agency revenue growth of 115 percent in tune to Rs 51.2 crore during 1999-2000 against the previous year Rs 23.8 crore. The total revenue of Minicomp stood at Rs 86 crore during 1999-2000 compared to the previous year Rs 71.1 crore, posting a 21 percent growth. During the last fiscal, the company's distribution jacked up by 26 percent.

Ramco Systems, Chennai, is ranked fifth in terms of it agency revenue growth. The company registered a 106 percent agency revenue growth with Rs 63 crore during the year 1999-2000, upped from the previous Rs 30.5 crore. Between 1999-2000, Ramco Systems' distribution increased by nine percent.

Widening Horizons

However, numbers can tell only half a story. No analysis is complete without the effort of peeping into the future. The other half comes from the way people perceive things from the situations they are in.

In the years to come, the vendors will have no choice but to increasingly depend on the channels. They seem to turn their attention from the metros to the untapped B and C class cities. Vendors sans their own support infrastructure, will also have to depend on their channel partners for support.

This means, the horizon of their activities is not limited, but it widens as time runs.

The channel is the lifeline between vendors and end-users. Looking at the macro picture, channels have indeed a major role to play in the IT business.

The CI Team

In The Reckoning

Some of them should have been there in the CI Silver Club by all means. A few of them are very close to making it. Others are waiting in the wings to join the elite 25.

The fact is that they are all in the reckoning to make it to the CI Silver Club. Some could not make it because they did not submit their revenue figures for 1999-00 to Dataquest Top-20. A few want to first shore up their figures further and then join the Club. Others have to work hard in the years to come to make it to the Club.

Those in the reckoning include: SES Computers, Neoteric Informatique, Karma International, Zenith, TCS, Nebula, Iris Computers, Apcom, Visualan Technologies, Samtech Engineering, Summit Infotech, Miraj marketing, Modi Peripherals, Kadam Marketing, Dixit Marketing, Microvillage, Integral Systems…the list as big as the entire channel community!