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Follow UsTHE MILIEU OF SP SUMMIT
Started way back in 2006 on the sultry
beaches of Madh Island, as a platform for the nation's top 100 SPs to
get an insight into the industry
and technological trends; besides discussing the tier-2 channels
scenario, the
Summit has come of age rising to prominence with the
progressively increasing zeal amidst the SPs. Previously, the SP
Summit focused over the industry insights and market overview, which
was fine tuned to cater to the needs of the then recognized SPs with
presentations from various market research agencies, sponsors and
personnel from the DQ Channels team. Maturing with age, the SP Summit
finally decided to go global in 2009 and take up various other issues
related directly or indirectly to the SP business like the market
dynamics, marketing and HR propaganda, new business horizons, key
technology utilization techniques and other issues. Clearly, now, the
SP Summit is not confined to the internal boundaries of Indian
business and technological dynamics in the tier-2 category, but a
schematic program, which can enhance the knowledge base of the SPs
and prepare them to take on the forthcoming and ongoing challenges.
As a part of its mission, the DQ Channels has always sought to benefit
the tier-2 SP
community in its own possible way and the SP Summit has evolved as
the canon of action in this venture.
Highlighting the importance of the SP
Summit, Pawan Khurana of QuantM Technologies, one of the delegates in
this year's SP Summit
said, “It was a great opportunity and platform for us (SPs) to
interact with your great team (Team DQC) and all other participants.
It was a good learning experience to attend all the session. Each of
the session was well researched, thoughtfully planned and perfectly
executed.”
THEME FOR THE 6TH SP SUMMIT
This year, unlike the past topics, DQ
Channels team decided to take up the topic of global positioning of
the SPs; noticing the fact, that many SPs are venturing into overseas
expansions and acquisitions and using the Web 2.0 tool for business
their purposes. Besides, with the industry experts opining, that the
global slowdown is waning away and tier-2 SPs are getting more
matured and technology-friendly than ever before, a term 'New Age
SP' was coined by the team of DQ Channels. This new breed of SPs
are projected to be everambitious, too much aggressive in their
business overview and are speculated to adapt to the technological
flux at an incredible speed. After identifying this new breed in an
earlier cover story in DQ Channels and understanding the 'new
requirements of the SPs at the start of the new decade', DQ Channels
decided to address
this subject matter as the primary point of discussion making it the
'theme of the 6th SP Summit'. “New Age SP is a much talked
about matter of discussion. Although I had a rough idea and could
perceive what it hints to, the idea was not concrete. With DQ
Channels projecting this topic and letting us know about the new
focus areas where we can grow, the topic was perfect, as a theme for
the SP Summit,” said Anil Kumar TV of Bengaluru-based Dhanush
Infosol, one of the delegates in the event.
EVENT FORMAT AND HIGHLIGHTS
With innovation being the key to the SP
Summit, DQ Channels has always strived to deliver more to its delegates
with three major changes made
to the format and presentation of the SP Summit. In the event format,
after careful evaluation by DQ Channels, the team decided to partner
with ISODA paving the way for direct SP involvement in the Summit.
ISODA has been addressing major issues plaguing the SP community in
terms of software,
particularly related to double taxation. Over the past two years, ISODA
has been actively fighting
against double taxation on software products. Apparently, it has set a
goal, wherein it wants a clear and
sensible taxation regime where there should be no double taxation
(service tax or VAT, not both).
However, the challenges in front of ISODA are, that industry
associations have divergent views about taxation, key people do not
have a clear and realistic view of IT software business, and lastly,
government and industry are not in sync. Rajesh Kothari, Chairman of
ISODA said,
“In order to understand the nature of IT software, we have to
follow the classic story of an elephant being described by blind
people. IT software is a huge, complex and invisible elephant. And a
proper commercial and legal understanding is a must to have a purview
of the whole gamut of things.” “The main issues are, that IT
software delivery model is complex, delivery of IT software and
related services are intricately linked, and it is for the supplier
to decide if IT software should be used as a good or as a service.
Now, we want the bureaucracy to have a clear understanding of the IT
software business model and laws should be in line with current
business environment,” Kothari added.
With the partnership with ISODA in
place, the association benefited in addressing its issues and its
deeds in a more interactive way whereby DQ Channels was able to
bridge the gap of direct SP participation in the Summit. In the
second place, the SMB and the government space was another key topic
for discussion apart from the theme of the Summit. Ashis Sanyal, Former
Senior
Director-Department of Information Technology, Ministry of IT and
Communications said that, the National
e-Governance Plan (NeGP) implementation is opening up significant
opportunities for the solution providers in India, and there is a
larger scope for providing end-to-end solution and service the
government-driven programs. “For sustainable inclusive growth, we
see ICT as an effective enabler for the deployment of ICT in all
talks of government business, massive application of electronic
governance, and there is a need to bring in citizen-centricity in
government activities,” he said. Presenting a rosy picture, Sanyal
said that, government is focusing on a multitude of
application features, that include standard-based, inter-operable,
secured, authenticated, vendor neutral and platform independent, as
well as amenable to tracking, monitoring and auditing. All projects
using ICT hardware and software abundantly will give rise to
significant business opportunity in the
next three to five years.
Next in line were the premiere five
break-out sessions involving all the delegates and sponsors, as part
of DQ Channels attempt to address ground reality issues and problems.
From decision making process, adherence to 'bell curve' and HR
related issues touching upon the facade of marketing challenges and
brand building, the topics also covered technological spheres as new
business opportunities. In the five groups, that were formed to
discuss and deliberate over the SP tier-2 process, DQ Channels
received an overwhelming participation from its delegates. The format
also included the traditional key-note sessions, the welcome and
thanks-giving format and the regular sponsor offerings in terms of
presentations and question hour.
THE NEW AWARD CATEGORY
As part of the third major innovation
in this year's SP Summit, DQ Channels modified the award categories
dramatically to meet upto the expectations of the new Age SPs and be
in tune with the industry dynamics. So long, for the DQ Channels
team, award categorization and nomination has been the most delicate
part during the pre-event days. Explaining the need to change the
award format and the categories, Rajneesh De, Executive Editor, DQ
Channels said, “Previously, the award categories and nominations
were based on the nomination forms given out during SP Summit
registration. However, now, with our editorial team introspecting
each element of the SPs and cross checking with industry experts, we
have done away with the traditional process.”
The awards were judged by an
independent panel of industry experts on the basis of the data
provided to DQ Channels during the Silver Club held at the end of
September 2010. Also, the data collected during the newly introduced
'Solution Champs' (Jan 15, 2011: Special issue) provided another
criteria for award nominations. After much editorial deliberation
over the award reformatting, DQ Channels decided to present the
awards in three categories; namely, the 'Solution Champs' based on the
company
performance and its concentration over top 11 technologies and
trends, the 'Traditional Awards', based on the data collected and
judged during the rankings in the Silver Club and 'Regional Rajas',
where the SPs were judged across the nation with focus over their
regional contributions and flow of business. After a careful process
of omissions and additions in finalizing the Solution Champs
category, DQ Channels identified the top 11 technologies and key
business areas in consultation with industry veterans, the SPs and
the vendors.
The categories and the respective
winners were —
Networking: Frontier Business
Systems
Unified Communications: Gemini
Communication
Business Intelligence: Team
Computers
Automated Services: ECV Infotech
Infrastructure Management:
Associated Business Computers
Managed Printing Services:
Quadsel and System Tech (joint)
Security Solutions: Allied
Digital
Structured Cabling: Artek
Enterprises
Storage Solutions: Precision
Infomatic
Software Solutions: Triffin
Technologies
Cloud Computing: QuantM Net
In the next category, DQ Channels
thought it was best to stick to the original format of the awards, ie
honoring the top SPs across India.
With six awards under this category,
the winners in each category were—
Top Solution Provider:
Gold — Sai Infosystems;
Silver — Allied Digital
Fastest Growing SP:
Gold — Velocis Systems;
Silver — Omnitech Solutions
Best Deployment:
Gold — Wysetech System
Technologists;
Silver — Pranaav Tele-Ventures
The third category of awards was
another dramatic innovation in this year's Channel Excellence
Awards. Recognizing the feat of talent in the regions and analyzing
the business concentration of the top 100 SPs in local business, DQ
Channels had divided the nation into four zones; namely, North,
South, East and West; and based upon the independent panel, one
'Regional Raja' has been identified from each region.
The Winners were —
North: Velocis Systems
South: Precision Infomatic
West: Orient Technologies
East: Embee Software
CONCLUDING NOTES
Keeping in mind, not to make the SP
Summit a dull experience confined to the walls of mature business and
technological academics within the premium Conference Hall of Hotel
Grand Seasons, DQ Channels decided to venture out to explore the city
of Kula Lumpur providing the delegates and all attendees a glimpse of
the acclaimed Petronas, mini-Times Square, Independence Square,
King's Palace, and the Chocolate Factory amongst others.
Although it rained throughout the day
which is a natural phenomenon for the equatorial climate in Malaysia,
it could not dampen the spirit of the SP Summit attendees. Also, an
entertainment night consisting of belly-dance shows and performance
by magicians was organized. However, the karaoke performance by the
delegates was the most impressive act of the night. At the end of the
day, what matters the most to DQ Channels team is satisfactory
conclusion of the event. It was well received by the delegates and
they were full of praises for DQ Channels.
“It was a very nice experience to be
a part of the prestigious SP Summit. Besides the well researched and
versed topics fruitful to our business line, DQ Channels provided an
excellent opportunity for us to interact with each other and took
immense care of us,” said Sumit Kumar of Life Computers. Also,
appreciating the same, Satish Chaudhary of Kolkata-based Techniche
Consulting Services said, “It is always a pleasure to be a part of
this celebrated event. With the change in format this time, I am very
impressed.”