EIITF 2013 concludes with a warm reception from Kolkata IT Channel

VARINDIA for the fourth consecutive year successfully concluded its Eastern India Information Technology Fair (EIITF) in the City of Joy, Kolkata. The topic for this year’s event was “ICT Confluence: Governments Plan for e-Governance”. This event is an umbrella under which CEOs, CXOs from vendors, VARs, distributors and system integrators from the ICT sector come together to learn through knowledge sharing by way of white paper presentation, AV showcasing and participating in the interactive sessions about the latest trends that shape the IT industry. Unveiling several initiatives, speakers from various verticals of government, PSUs, industry bodies and industrialists also participated in the function.

The event was attended by over 200 senior officials from the IT Department, WEBEL, WTL and STPI, to name a few. 

The Chief Guest of the event was Shri Prabir Kumar Das, Managing Director, WEBEL. Other guests who had attended the event were Shri Manjit Nayak, Joint Director, STPI, Kolkata; Pradeep Biyani, President, COMPASS; Alok Garodia, Managing Director, Jupiter International; Col. H. P. S. Bawa, CEO, WTL; J. P. Singh, Executive Director, RailTel Corporation of India; Hemant Chabria, Director, Chabria Infotech; Manoj Jain, Managing Director, Ishika Technologies; Nirupam Chaudhri, Regional Head – East, NASSCOM; Soumitra Chakraborty, Director, Amtrak Technologies; Anirban Banerjee, Head – Marketing – EPABX, Panasonic; Satya Kalyan Mohanty, Channel Manager, Check Point Software Technologies; and senior executives from the leading IT organizations such as IBM, HP, Wipro and Microsoft.

The event kick-started with an address by Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher, VARINDIA. In his inaugural speech, he mentioned how VARINDIA creates a platform and ensures that the pain points of the IT industry are addressed and resolved. He also discussed the increase in the number of SMEs in the field of Chip designing, IT-BPO/KPO activities, especially with the rise of several software start-ups and SMEs. 

Speaking about the opportunities within WEBEL, Shri Prabir Kumar Das, Managing Director, WEBEL, mentioned about the various services and integrated solutions offered by WEBEL as a nodal agency. He further added as how these types of events are very helpful to create an e-enabling ecosystem in eastern India.

Emphasizing the role of COMPASS in the promotion of IT in West Bengal, Shri Pradeep Biyani, President, COMPASS, spoke about the role COMPASS has played in helping their members in solving various issues relating to legal and logistics in coordination with the vendors.

There were showcases and presentations from NIXI, Panasonic and Check Point.

Mentioning about the contribution of Channel Partners in bringing success to any emerging security business, Shri Ved Prakash, Check Point, spoke about the Security landscape and the solutions offered to address this challenging area.

Shri Anirban Banerjee, Head - Marketing - EPABX, Panasonic, gave a presentation on opportunities for the Channel Partners ahead with the various technology solutions being offered with indigenous and customized features. 

The active participation of the senior delegates in the panel discussion on the topic “Empowering VARs to enhance Productivity”, which was moderated by Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher, VARINDIA, was another attraction for the evening. The panellists on the dais from various cross-sections of the industry were Sarvashri Manjit Nayak, Joint Director, Office-in-Charge, STPI, Kolkata; Col. H. P. S. Bawa, CEO, WTL; Manoj Jain, Managing Director, Ishika; and Alok Garodia, Managing Director, Jupiter International. The audience who represented NASSCOM, VARs, system integrators and economists also participated during the Q&A session. 

The panel discussion proved to be a great brainstorming session. Discussions ranged from the business complexities given rise by the new technologies emerging almost every day to the abrupt fall of the Rupee which has led to the rise in the import cost and the difficulties faced by the industry as well as the consumers and appeals to the Government to include Exchange Rate Variation (ERV) clause for the purchase of goods. It really helped the partners to build a robust ecosystem in the ICT industry. 

The objective of EIITF was very well achieved by making the VAR community aware about the technology trends shaping these fields and how they can improve their skills in these segments in the field of collaborative technology by sharing the best practices. 

There was also a lucky draw where three lucky winners walked away with Amtrak tablets.