Solution providers shine at DQCI Excellence awards

The best performing solution providers and systems integrators (SIs) in India were honored at the first ever DQ Channels India Excellence Awards held in Bangalore on January 15. Network Solutions walked away with the coveted trophy for most successful solution provider, while Frontier Business Systems and PC Solutions were the runner-ups for the same category. 

In all, 12 awards were given away in six categories, adjudged by a panel constituting senior industry representatives from IBM, AMD, APC and Ingram Micro. The DQ Channels India Excellence award for the most promising solution provider went to Syntech Informatics from Kolkata. Precision Group was adjudged the Fastest Growing solution provider, while Ahmedabad-based Sai Infosystems was the runner up. 

The award for best service went to Team Computers, with Allied Digital coming in second. Visesh Infotechnics bagged the Best Deployment award for the project it deployed for the Thai Government, while Kolkata-based Wizer Technologies walked away with the runner-up award in this category. New Delhi´s OA Compserve won the award for the Most Comprehensive Solution Provider, with Ashtech Infotech from Mumbai close on its heels. 

The event got off to an interesting start with a panel discussion on 'Aiming For The Quantum Leap--Opportunities And Challenges'. The panelists included AMD Far East Marketing and Business Development´s Director, Mukund Ramarathnam; Juniper Networks India´s Channels Manager Harvinder Rajwant, SAP India's Director (Solutions) R Ramakrishnan, Ingram Micro Group's GM (Enterprise Solutions) Sanjiv Mehrotra; Network Solutions´ MD Sudhir Sarma along with Visesh Infotecnics' CEO and MD Sanjiv Bhavnani. CyberMedia Publications´ Editor-in-Chief Shyam Malhotra moderated the entire discussion.

The panelists discussed various avenues for growth in the solution providing space for SIs and solution providers, including international and domestic opportunities. "There is plenty of potential in metros and small cities, especially in areas like IT enabled services and banking," said
Sudhir. 

Concurring with his view, Ramakrishnan added that the SMB segment also had a lot of promise. Sanjiv Bhavnani urged SIs to look beyond India for growth opportunities and cited his company´s experience in successfully implementing a project in Thailand. 

Taking a different tack, Rajwant suggested that solution providers need to look deeper into customer needs and added, "They can go in for more granular and in-depth solutions for the same customer."

Most panelists also agreed that taking a vertical specific focus or getting into a niche field could also be a good way to grow. Elaborating on the point, Ramakrishnan said, "It is proving impossible to provide customers a complete set of solutions, so one should focus on a specialized market. It is all a question of getting the right niche."

On the topic of prospective hot areas of growth, security and the SMB segment emerged as popular choices with panelists. While Sudhir put betted on enterprise
management and IT infrastructure management, Sanjiv Bhavnani felt that retail solutions, SMB and mobile telematics were good areas. 

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