3. RECESSION: Resistant Performance

What makes Ingram Micro India -- which retains its #3 rank in the DQCI Silver Club–unique, is the fact that it is the only one among the top three companies to register a positive growth. While Tech Pac and Redington had a negative and flat growth respectively, Ingram's revenue shot up by 31 percent to also make it the highest growth company among the top 10 members of the DQCI Silver Club.

Defying the IT meltdown, Ingram crossed the magical Rs 1,000 crore mark to clock revenues of Rs 1,220 crore (DQCI estimates), in fiscal 2001-02 as compared to

Rs 930 crore in the year before.

It was an year of consolidation for Ingram Micro, which added Lexmark printers, Ascom's networking products and Compaq' storage products to its portfolio. Taking up the exclusive distributorship of Samsung mobile phones too proved lucky for the company, with sales happening to the tune of Rs 70 crore within first year itself. As for the contribution of vendors, HP products gave Ingram the maximum amount of business, contributing Rs 157 crore, followed by Compaq and Microsoft with Rs 150 crore and Rs 148 crore, respectively. Other major contributors were Intel and IBM. Fiscal 2002-03 could see more high growth from Ingram–it projected over 25 percent. To achieve this, the company is adding more product lines and vendors to its already bulging portfolio. Already on board are HP consumables and PTC's low-end software range.

However, what stood out overall was the performance of its own brand, Vesta. Products of this brand alone brought Rs 100 crore for the company. While motherboards, keyboards, mice, speakers, cabinets and CD-ROM drives were already selling under this brand, last year UPS was also added to it.

Compaq decided to drive its NAS initiative through Ingram Micro, for which the latter created a pool of 50 resellers, in addition to the existing ones. Training and certification was held for these partners in eight cities, including the metros.

The fiscal saw Ingram moving deeper geographically to smaller locations. With the addition of three new offices in Madurai, Patna and Raipur, its direct presence in the country went up to 33 locations. The company also took initiatives to increase its reach in D-class cities. It was towards this direction that it appointed seven C&F agents in the cities of Dehradun, Gurgaon, Jammu, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi. It also scaled its reach of resellers to 6,000, with 2,000 additions last year. Tightened credit system improved inventory status and the company adopted an overall improved asset management to beat the slowdown. Realizing that the entire industry was facing with a demand slump, Ingram moved ahead and organized several roadshows partnering with its vendors in the smaller locations. ”Moving forward we see tremendous scope in terms of demand generation and improvement in the business climate. In this scenario, it is essential for all of us to collectively work at shaping the future strategy to add value to our respective business and grow profitably,” says NY Prasad, COO, Ingram Micro India.

MEASURES THAT BROUGHT MOOLAH: Product lines saw massive expansion Increased channel base as well as its direct presence

In addition, several innovative marketing programs like the recently conducted Vesta Independence Program caught the imagination of the resellers and spurred demand for the brand. In cases where vendors did not have a direct presence in India, Ingram handled end-to-end marketing activities including product launches, direct mailers, roadshows, seminars, channel identification and channel development. For in-country vendors, it conducted roadshows in B and C-class cities and evangelized their products in these locations. Says Prasad, “We want to play the role of an active conduit for a healthy interaction between vendors and channel partners through these initiatives.” Ingram's annual feature Showcase 2002, which was held in Mumbai this year, saw nearly 1,000 channel partners and 23 vendor companies participating. The prime purpose behind the event was to bring vendors, channel partners and Ingram Micro together on a single platform to discuss products, strategies and programs.

Showcase 2002 also saw Ingram launching two new web initiatives, Web Warranty and eSolutions. These initiatives help its partners compare products, get accurate pricing information, check stock status and subsequently post an order.

The event had interactive sessions which covered several key topics such as warranty, profitability of channels, technology selling, how to sell services, making VAR business work and business potential of B and C-class cities. Ingram's focus areas for the next fiscal are to strengthen the Vesta brand, establishing the software business, and further expand its network. In the process, the company hopes to grow better than the industry average.