There is an awakening that is slowly gathering momentum in the channel. It’s a confidence that is seen in partners across the country. It’s the partners’ fight for his/her due. It’s the fight that is common to all, but till recently was fought by just a few. Now it’s heartening to see more and more partners coming forward to express their dissent on issues that affect them. And it’s extremely rewarding to see the confidence level of the channel steadfastly increasing.
A few years ago, when the IT market was on a downswing, partners were too pre-occupied with etching a living to look into the larger aspects of the business. Then the good times came, and nobody wanted to rock the boat, so malpractices were overlooked. Now it’s the growth phase, business is booming and stocks are rolling. And therefore it’s really commendable that partners are choosing to stand up for themselves in these times. For, it proves that the partner is a long-term player. 360 Magazine cover story of the February 14th issue elaborates this trend in detail.
The first stirrings of this confidence was seen about four years back when the Pune-based association, CDMA, called a boycott against HP until the manufacturer changed its decision on octroi-paid goods being sold in the city. This was followed by the Chennai channel shutting shutters for a day to protest against the staged raids conducted by HP & Intel. And more recently, we saw the memorable standoff between Pondicherry’s Information Technology Traders Association (ITTA) and Redington to protest against the direct sales of products and service undertaken by the distributor. In each of these instances the partner was against an adversary that was more powerful and yet in each case the channel won!
The reason for winning was twofold. One, the partner was safeguarding his own right and therefore very committed to the cause. And two, and more importantly, he had the backing of his community.
Two extremely important factors, and yet so seldom found in life’s tiring times.