With the new tie-up with Sonicwall, what are the channel plans you are working upon?
We have three sets of partners-regular resellers, Value Added Resellers (VARs), and System Integrators (SIs). We intend to appoint around 40 to 45 partners across India from A, B, & C class cities. These partners include resellers, VARs and SIs.
We feel that with the new recruitment of channel partners, we will be able to efficiently address both enterprise, as well as Small and Medium Business (SMB) space. This will further help us address a broader set of customers, reach key markets, and establish a wider footprint.
What are the parameters that the channel partners must fulfill to be eligible?
Channel partners must ideally fulfill three parameters in order to be eligible to be associated with us. The parameters are: Interest, Capability, and Reach. However, the partners must fulfill at least any two criteria to be considered.
How are you intending to promote the products offered by Sonicwall in future?
In the initial phase, the primary focus will be on the entire product line. It’ll be only at the end of one or two quarters that we get a bigger and better picture. Post this, we will be able to focus more efficiently on any specific products when required.
Please elaborate upon the business structure at Redington.
As per the Redington structure, there’ll be a specific team,right from the corporate office to branch offices. A single team will handle the product offerings. But this will be done keeping the vendor’s objective in mind. Sonicwall is a new addition to our portfolio. Its product line will definitely strengthen our presence in the security market.
What initiatives are you taking to further promote and increase brand awareness?
In the initial months, we will primarily engage in market development activity. Also, along with Sonicwall, we shall conduct various seminars and events to help educate resellers and make them as well as end-users aware of Unified Threat Management (UTM), technology capabilities, and support initiatives.
In metropolises, we ll take on work along with Sonicwall, while in remote cities, we ll do it all by ourselves. All these events will begin from this quarter. Apart from this, we are also initiating the initial level training program required for the channel partners, which we intend to complete by the end of this quarter.
Are you planning to introduce any form of product consolidation?
No, there won’t be any product consolidation. As said earlier, we have server partners, network partners, and so on-and these all are our potential partners for Sonicwall products. However, these all are independent of each other. For example, if a server partner has got some lead and there’s potential for security products, there will be a parallel go to enable the security partner to follow up the lead.
Which product or solution from Sonicwall will generate maximum business for you?
At the moment, it would be too early to comment. We’ll come to know only after the products and solutions go through our partners. However, this much I can confidently say: with this tie-up, we foresee a revenue of around Rs.7 crore in the next 9 months of this fiscal year.
As per our understanding, today Sonicwall has an exciting line of products and solutions for comprehensive network and email security, secure remote access, as well as continuous data protection. And it has an excellent presence in the Indian market.
There are already some existing partners associated with Sonicwall.
What will be their future? How will you be associated with them?
Sonicwall already has a list of resellers in India. They will continue functioning the same way as they are doing today. We can always act as a second option for these channel partners.
There will be no preferential treatment from our side towards these partners. Furthermore, we might introduce and run some programs along with Sonicwall for the benefit of these partners.
What will be the benefit for channel partners in this business? How much margin of profit can they avail?
We’re not responsible for the profit margins; that’s primarily from the parent company. However, our strategy of wooing channel partners will consist of offering them these security products as an interesting business avenue and additional source of income.
How will the service and support aspect work out for the channel community?
Sonicwall has an excellent support system across the country. It’ll administer and take care of the service and support features by itself. We do have a service division, but as of now, we won’t be handling the company’s products and solutions. However, we’ll be taking care of warehousing for all the products, which are our core strength.