No Success without Partners!

Manish Sharma
Vice-President – APAC
NComputing Inc.

How has been the journey of NComputing in the Indian market?

NComputing's journey in the Indian market has been extremely exciting since we started approximately four years back. Our technology of desktop virtualization was promising, in as much as it reduced the total cost of ownership of the IT infrastructure of an institution or an organization to a fraction. Being apt for the market, it was rapidly adopted by customers across different segments and verticals. The technology works in the multi-computing environment. Sectors like Education, Enterprises, Government, medium and small businesses, SoHo segment, government offices, etc. have been the major adopters of the technology. 

What is the market you are looking at? Share your market share in the respective vertical (healthcare/ education etc.)

India is the largest market and Asia the largest region for us. We have deployed around 6 lakh units in the country. The 2011 IDC report reinforces NComputing's position as the leader in the enterprise client device market in India. We intend to expand the market through the introduction of new products, by growing our partner and channel base and increasing existing and new customer adoption. Since the Indian market is huge, we have to work through channels. Our strategy is to focus 100% on channels and to make sure there is a strong channel development so that value proposition gets very clearly communicated to the customer. 30% of our customers are from the SMB segment and the reason why they are adopting are already mentioned above. Our products like L300, M300 and vSpace client for Windows are focussed on the SMB and Enterprise sectors. Our L300 thin client has been a major success story in India. It delivers unparalleled computing and economic advantages to CIOs and IT managers looking to advance and optimize the performance of their entire IT infrastructure.

NComputing virtual desktop solutions have been adopted in Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. We have deployed thousands of units in these states and more projects are coming up. Education is the most important sector in our portfolio. Around 60% of our sales are to the educational institutes and 30% to small and medium businesses. Enterprise is a focussed sector, and our new products fit in very well to cater to the segment. 

NComputing recently announced a new line of high-performance thin clients built for Citrix environments that delivers a high-performance HDX experience starting at less than $100 - a fraction of the cost of traditional HDX-capable thin clients or PCs. This is, for example, a perfect fit for the Enterprise segment, besides the launch of vSpace Client a few months back that promotes mobility and BYOD in Enterprise for their desktop virtualization plans. 

What is the role of channel partners for NComputing?

NComputing is a 100% channel-focussed company. Redington is our National Distributor and we have an active channel partner base of almost 800 partners. These are spread across 100 cities. This presence helps us reaching out the benefits of NComputing technology in the interiors of the country, especially in the tier-II and tier-III cities. We have a comprehensive channel programme that includes channel sales and technical training, MDF funds, joint marketing initiatives, and demo kit programmes, roadshows in multiple cities and outreach through various other marketing initiatives, tools and collateral. Apart from this, the NComputing has a Sales team with a rich experience to support and guide this entire Channel network. 

NComputing respects every partner equally. We cannot be successful without our partners. It is our policy to respect, understand roadblocks, educate, enable and empower them to sell better. When we work together, we get the best results. 

We strongly believe that the partners are the key to success and have built the entire strategy around working successfully with our channel partners. We value the channel's customer insights, technical knowledge, and market smartness. We have very committed partners and our efforts are focussed at making the engagement a mutually rewarding experience. We are also investing in marketing programmes as well to raise our awareness with the customers as well as resources to support the business in the country.

Talking about smaller cities, a large part of our business comes from tier-II and tier-III cities. We have a huge focus on enabling and supporting our partners in these cities through extended team and investing in resources to serve these markets.  

How do you involve your partners during large deployments?

Our partners range from resellers in the tier-III cities to large SIs and Solution Providers. They cater from a rural school customer to partners who service very large enterprises. In majority of the cases (projects), we work together with our channel partners. They help us sometimes in front ending or support the deployments, provide post-sales support and are involved as they are a part of the entire ecosystem. 

What kind of margins/ benefits do your Partners get? 

How are you strengthening your channel and opening avenues for them?

What is the evolution path in the future?

NComputing would continue to grow and strengthen its market leadership position. NComputing has been a pioneer and will keep driving innovation to deliver better economics and performance from desktop virtualization, ahead of the curve. We have only touched a tip of an iceberg in the region and there is still a huge potential and scope. We would continue to maintain our leadership position in the market and will invest efforts in growing this market and enabling the ecosystem to deliver the benefits of the technology. NComputing would always be there to support its customers.