K L Lalani, Managing Director of Kolkata-based Lalani Infotech, who has been elected as the president of Confederation of Indian IT Associations (CIITA), an association representing channel partners from Eastern region, sought better collaboration between association members to make the organization more effective.
In a brief chat with Channel Times, Lalani said, “As president of the association, I am looking for perfect coordination between members and the office bearers while seeking solutions for their challenges. This is the only way CIITA can effectively explore new opportunities in the region and spread awareness about the same.”
Asked about his plans for converting his vision into reality, Lalani said it was too early to discuss key steps and that the plan would be discussed at the meeting of the executive committee of the association.
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However, he stressed that a critical part of the strategy would involve removing any communication bottlenecks between the vendors and the channel community. “The idea is to find mutually beneficial solutions for both parties as and when possible. When there are challenges that faces the channel community, we would be making efforts to represent the same to the state government and across other platforms.”
Lalani also shed some light on bringing increased collaboration amongst association members for which he suggested regular interactions and strengthening of the processes within the association.
On the topic of online retail, he said, “Online sale is a reality of trade, the only challenge is to maintain the ecosystem of trade.” Continued conversations with the vendor community on past and present issues faced by channel partners is one way in which the ecosystem can be maintained and grown for mutual benefit, he added.
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Asked to list out the current challenges facing the CIITA, Lalani said besides the growth of online retail, the issue plaguing the industry the most involved the decline in actual trading volumes and the impact of the slump in the economy. In addition, there is also the challenge emanating from Britain leaving the European Union as well as the issue of mobile phones eating into the laptop market.
Since the industry is passing through many challenges CIITA hopes to enhance support to its members by uniting the trading ecosystem, he said adding that the association hoped to help members by acting as a nodal agency for vendors, the small and medium enterprises and the trading industry.
On a positive note, he said that the community should gear up to face a new customer mindset represented by the youth who have sound knowledge of the product space and are quick decision makers when it comes to purchasing products.