We have worked with 14 state governments in India for various e-gov projects

Happy with the progress of various e-governance projects in India, Dukker

talks how these deployments signal good opportunities to NComputing's channel

partners as they can provide ongoing support at these installation bases

How does NComputing make profits from low priced PCs for itself and its

partners?



One of the most important things to know about our technology is that these

workstations are not PCs. It is technology, so when you explore it inside out,

they cost very low. This is beneficial to the industry we are lowering the

prices for the end users and increasing process for the local partners so that

they can work upon and make the installations. Our devices are priced at $70 and

in spite of being so low priced, we make a good profit and our dealers make good

prices.

In fact, Wipro made more money by selling our devices than selling the PCs.

In our case, they already have a lower cost for the end users and have enough

money so that they are able to do a good job. We are done with 2,000

workstations in Eastern Europe and recently Andhra Pradesh gave us additional

11,000 workstations.

Our project has always been successful because our technology is very good.

Also our channel partner can make a good amount of profit margin that allows

them to give support and to ensure that they do a good job to the customers. The

important philosophy of NComputing is that we do not sell directly but through

the channels. We are helping the channels to help them do the sales work and

guide them about the technology. In the current industry, we are creating a

business moral that is good for the end users and the channel partners by giving

them a product by which they can make money. And this is a hugely important

contribution by NComputing.

So is NComputing targeting the other verticals as well or are they going

to restrain themselves to the education segment itself?



Education was the earlier market for us and now we are looking towards the

corporate sector as well. In fact, 35 percent of our business is commercial and

we have some of the major companies on board working for the corporate sector.

Will more partners be added to your network this year or will there be a

freeze?



We have regional distributors in Mumbai and New Delhi, and now we are

thinking of extending our channel partner base. We also have third-party

companies, where we have begun to sell our technologies.

Six months ago, LG Electronics had announced that they are going to launch a

line of network products based on NComputing technology. Within the next two

years, the top five PC companies will be introducing product line based on

NComputing technology. We are keen on expanding our channels as well as our

geography. We provide training and marketing support to our channel in India. We

also have a team of about 12 people in the country, where they focus on the

enterprise and business development. Remaining are the channels and managers who

work with partners on a national level, understand their problems and sort out

their issues.

How much space has NComputing covered geographically?



We have sales in every single state in India through our channels. We are

actively involved with the state-level governments. Basically, we have already

covered 14 out of 32 states, and are working with the NComputing program at the

state level to get our technology processed.

Could you elaborate on your go-to-market strategy?



We do not do direct sales; instead we sell through the channels. We do have

business development people who work with the enterprise at state level. 100

percent sales of NComputing is through channels and zero percent sales is

direct. We have an extensive program to provide demo units to the channels and

we are aggressive in supporting the shows, in providing the demo units to the

channels, and involve in mini trade shows and seminars.

Why did you tie up with MKCL?



MKCL needed computer learning centers with work stations that could replace
traditional PCs. They found our technology very cost-effective, and that they

could buy five times the number of workstations with the same amount of money.

And also these private public partnership education centers are run by

individuals, entrepreneurs and business men. The software and training procedure

is all defined by MKCL. In order to be successful, they needed some

cost-effective technology, and they believe that low cost shouldn't be for the

purpose of the devices but it should be used for the ongoing operations. They

realized that shared computing was the best way to low down on the electricity.

Phase-1 is already completed with 11 workstations deployed, each in 1,000

schools just 35-40 days before.

Could you explain more on this technology and also about the Andhra

Pradesh tie-up?



In education environment, one needs to have a lot of multimedia and training

programs, and we have to convince that the user experience was no less than a

PC. NComputing effectively leverages the continuing trend of increasing

processing power of the everyday desktop computer.

We have developed a means for profitably providing a computing workstation

for $70 each, that includes all the necessary virtualization hardware and

software. Electrical consumption is another important factor that we had on mind

for the Andhra Pradesh project.

As far as load balancing is concerned, our devices uses 1W compared to 100W

per PC. At the same time, our devices can operate hassle-free in 45-50 degrees.

This lowers the maintenance and electrical cost too. Failure has never been a

part of our devices, and the maintenance cost of one PC has scaled down to a

very affordable level.

The operators of the various training centers appreciated this technology,

because it allowed them to deliver five times as many workstations, which means

they will be training five times as many students at the same time. The outcome

of the customers has been excellent. The company has already delivered its

services to 5,000 government schools and100 private schools in Andhra Pradesh .

Minakshi Shetty



minakshis@cybermedia.co.in