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