Excerpts:
CT: How were the first 30 days?
AIT: Challenging. We are analyzing all the issues faced by the partners in the industry.
CT: Online is a visible threat. Is that alone the issue for partners?
AIT: That is a myth. There are innumerable hidden issues. Take cloud for instance. Distribution and retail community thinks it is something irrelevant to the current situation. We are very sure that five years down the line it will impact the buying behavior of the small and medium business, which is now the milking cow for many partners. Already the decision for IT purchases has shifted to the finance or facility department. IT is the first and most vulnerable to cost decisions of an organization. We are trying to bring awareness among the partners on those lines.
CT: How positive you are on the business in Bengaluru?
AIT: According to the recent figures, the US trend is on a positive mode. In the last six months, there are many start-up companies with young entrepreneurs that have cropped up in the IT capital. However, these companies are very clear on what they want and which part of IT to invest. We think the members should get in tune to the changing trends.
CT: How closely will you work with the state government?
AIT: We already have a good rapport with the state government officials and we are always called for the pre-budget meetings. With the formation of a state-body like FIDTAK, we have represented the government and given memorandum for E-Sugam, the latest buzz among the members.
CT: How are you planning to increase the number of members?
AIT: Currently we have more than 550 members, out of whom 300 are life-members. Steps are taken to increase life-members and on the strength of members we will increase it step by step. Our target is 700 members in the first year and 1000 members by the end of our tenure.
CT: What are the business-development activities planned from the association?
AIT: The association communicates within through an internal Google group mail. Till date, there were no business activities involved in it. From now on, members can utilize the group for selling. Today, sourcing of right products from the right people has become tough. There are good products available in market, which are not able to reach us. Other major issue is the increase in the ageing inventories that impact the supply-chain of the market. By having constant interactions within the members, we think, both the issues can be addressed.
CT: You are one of the leading associations in the country. However, why is your association inactive in social media? Not a single page for AIT?
AIT: We accept that. Even though we are IT-savvy, only 30% of the total members use social media for business. Others though are in social media, do not utilize this medium for their business needs. With more interactions internally, creating awareness on social media, especially Linkedin will be the priority.
CT: You have a mix of members from different segment. There are strong expectations from members to have separate committees.
AIT: We have distributors, VARs, system-integrators, telecom players and retailers. We are planning to form committees and under one chairperson, who will address the issues in their segment. On the other side, we also request the members to be clear on the papers, so that it becomes easier for the association to escalate issue with the concerned vendor or government agencies.