Most of the companies are ensuring the well being of the partners as they are going to be the key for company’s success in the coming times.Gurudutt M, Director – Channel & Midmarket Business at Schneider Electric, India, speaks with Channel Timeson the market trends, smart cities and the promises on the channel market.
Excerpts.
Channel Times: What were the top key trends that we will witness in power solutions industry this financial year?
Gurudutt: One of the key reasons for the boom in the back-up power market in India is the rising demand for power supply due to scarcity in power distribution. The power deficits hover between the 3 to 10% in various states. The back-up power sector can be broadly categorised into four segments – UPS, Diesel Generators, Inverters and Batteries.
The UPS segment has witnessed a consistent rise in demand owing to the rapid development of the IT sector coupled with a growing consciousness among individuals to protect costly electronic equipment which can be adversely affected by sudden power failures. Demand for diesel powered generator sets come from various sectors such as IT, telecom and construction, while inverters are primarily used in households, shops and commercial establishments.
Last year we did a research through an independent research agency. The study provided detailed analysis of the power consumption habits across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure (airport, marine) and hospitality, and the resulting impact that it has on business.
The study revealed that for companies in the manufacturing sector, the overall loss can be to the tune of 6% of topline due to power down time. Companies are trying to avoid this using DG power back-up for critical processes.
The report says that using UPS to avoid material loss and impact on equipment could increase profitability significantly, and if critical processes too are run on UPS then profitability can increase further by 8.1% in full time use scenario and 7.8% in non-outage hours use scenario. The study reveals that the Grid power supply with the combination of alternate sources (DG&UPS) can optimize the overall efficiency and reduce the OPEX expenses.
From the industry perspective poor power supply and interruptions is causing damage to equipment in manufacturing, lifesaving departments in healthcare industries, daily day-to-day functioning in hospitality sector along with the productivity in the infrastructure sector.
Channel Times: All the vendors are focusing on smart cities. What is your opinion on the opportunities for channel partners selling power solutions in smart cities?
Gurudutt: Smart City development in the country has opened up a huge market for Channel Partner business. Smart cities seek to become more efficient in the way they manage infrastructure and deliver services to residents. The scope includes everything from reducing the energy consumption of buildings to improving vehicular traffic flow around town. Information technology provides a foundational piece of the smart city and vendors have been talking up smart city technologies and their potential. Channel partners who have existing relationships with local governments could play a role in making smart cities happen.
In Smart City concept, reliable provision of energy is essential for powering infrastructure and transportation, economic growth and quality of life.
CT: How much prepared are you to grab the opportunities in smart cities?
Gurudutt: Cities are growing today and it faces huge challenges like congestion, pollution, blackouts, crime, debt and rising costs. Cities need to become smarter with more efficient, sustainable and liveable environment. Government’s focus on the new strategic initiatives with the volume and attractiveness of the opportunity combined with the intense limelight of media has created the time and opportunity for Smart Cities in India.
We have been investing in solutions for Smart Cities quite early on which has helped in positioning us as a thought leader in Smart City technologies. We are looking at providing smart city solutions in the proposed cities. We have a range of power products (UPS) transformers, switchgears, primary and secondary equipment for the smart cities. We are currently engaged in various Smart Cities in progress like – GIFT City, Gujarat, Naya Raipur, BKC, Mumbai etc.
CT: What is the partner strength of your company in India? Are there any expansion plan. If so, how much?
Gurudutt: Our enhanced partner program like the, Managed, Select, Elite and Premier, High Power and Secure Power Partner Programs will increase our effectiveness among the channel. High Power Partners specializes in 3 phase power distribution units and Secure Power Partners specialize in 3-phase power distribution units in the non-IT sector.
We also have an exclusive PRM strategy in addition to our POD (partner online destination) portal, to train our partners and make them better equipped for selling solutions and manage. We also have an SI Loyalty Program, which encompasses solutions from APC, Uniflair and other brands of Schneider Electric to help partners differentiate themselves in the market place. Example: The Elite DC Program for highly specialized partners in small and medium data centers.
We help our partners connect through web and other platforms to reach Schneider Electric easily. We would upgrade our channel base to have access to the ISX for SMB IT tool to provide standard solutions with minimum supervision. They will have a larger share of wallet and will be trusted advisors to customers.
We do business with 5000 partners through our national distributors focus for this year to increase the specialized partners in Tier 2 / 3 locations, keeping our overall partner base intact.
CT: What are the three promises for your channel partners for the next financial year?
Gurudutt: Wider range of product offering – key to be specialized partner for solution business.
Better engagement through a robust channel partner program- deployment of Partner Relationship Management Portal (PRM).
Immense business growth opportunities with ONE Schneider Electric offering.