We look at business challenges in different
verticals individually and then give a customized set of solutions S Sriram
CEO, iValue InfoSolutions Friday, February 27, 2009S Sriram is confident that iValue
InfoSolutions' three different go-to-market strategies, which are bound to the
evolutionary phases of every product, will help the product to gain traction.
He elaborated on the company's decision to work with lesser known brands and
customized solutions for different verticals.What does iValue's business model entail?We work with customized solutions so that there is traction
built around the product itself rather than pushing sales through the channel.
Onus lies on us to work with the customers, fine tune the model, build traction
and empower the partners. When our partners come on board, they understand that
if we do this together they can replicate the model with their existing
customers and generate more business.Does this
mean you have a different sales strategy for each of the products you distribute?Because of our experience with Select, we realized that
different brands and products are at different stages of evolution. So a niche
product first has to get technological acceptance, then it becomes mainstream
and only after that it becomes a commodity that customers know
and ask for by name.
When
we are dealing with a niche product, it has to be more customer-centric. We
also need to have more traction with the channels later with our pre-sales
support, getting them trained on the solution front and the business benefit it
will offer to them. So at different points the approach to the solution has to
keep evolving. By just having one approach, we will not do justice to the
product.Most of the brands
you have tied-up with are not very well known. Is this a conscious strategy to
align with the lesser known entities so you can build the market from scratch?Yes, most of the vendors we are working with like,
Ruckus or Array, are not very well known in the market. This is because we
wanted to reserve our time and energy on those 15 emerging brands, which are
relevant to our customers, rather than focus on value-added solutions,
especially in the first year of our operations. If we had more run rate
products then we would have spent more time and bandwidth on the transactional
business rather than on understanding the needs of various verticals and seeing
how to position these emerging solutions there. This strategy has ironically
helped us in the slowdown because now we can plan with customers about the
right solutions for their verticals and business needs, rather than trying to
just achieve numbers.So you are giving
customized solutions to a particular set of customers in a defined vertical?We look at business challenges in different verticals
individually and then give a customized set of solutions. If you look at ITeS
that have compliance norms, we first understand what those compliance norms are
and then do an audit of their existing infrastructure and finally suggest
solutions for it. In the process, we can become aware of new issues which may
crop up and therefore, we can offer better and more efficient solutions that
fit their budget.Vinita Bhatiavinitavs@cybermedia.co.in
