What kind of trends you see in the Indian IT Distribution market in India?

All indicators point towards a super growth period in PC sales, where the consumer and education sectors will drive the growth. The traditional growth from the government and corporate sectors still remains strong. To cater to the growth in sales, all vendors will look for increased capacity from distributors in terms of reach and credit extension. Vendors will look for partners who have demonstrated capabilities reach to address the emerging segments like upcountry markets and retail. We clearly see that the distribution companies which have invested in systems, processes and professional manpower will be able to participate in this phase of growth. Sales force compensation methods will change dramatically to reflect increased demands and competence levels required from the field forces.

What are the Brands you cater for this market?  

Currently, we distribute Dell, Delta, Lenovo, Microsoft, Strontium, Western Digital and Xerox in India.

What is your value addition to the vendors and channel partners and how do you differentiate yourself?

We, at Global Infonet, take pride in aligning ourselves with all our vendors' go-to-market strategies and ensuring that the same are executed within the defined parameters. We bring along a professional team which is conversant with the market dynamics. We have resources in place to ensure availability of inventory and access to channel credit for partners. Global's differentiation remains in the superior organization design which allows us deliver while maintaining a strong growth orientation.

We believe that empowerment and achievement orientation among employees shall be at the core of differentiation we seek to create. We have designed a compensation structure to attract the best talent in the industry. Global sales team makes many times higher incentives as compared to their industry peers.

What additions have you planned if any in terms of brand/ product?

We are looking forward to adding one to two vendors in each product category as a broad line distributor. We intend to work with the leading brands and will strive to lead our vendor partners to attain or maintain their leadership position. In ninety per cent cases, Global is the largest partner for the vendor in the product category we distribute. This is a significant achievement for a new entrant or to be precise a two-year-old company like us.

What is your current and planned partner size? What's your current presence base in India?

At present, we reach out to over 4,000 Channel partners, and intend to increase this coverage to over 7,000 partners within this year itself. We reach out to customers in 80% of the administrative districts in the country. Global has a branch network of 34 locations and we intend to grow this to 50 locations in the next two quarters.

What are the locations that you plan to add?  

In the next phase, we are targeting Tier-3 cities meaning going deeper within each state where we already have operations. You will see Global Infonet's branches in locations like Kota, Varanasi, Hubli, Nashik, etc.

How do you see the business momentum this year? Please share your current and planned revenues also?

Business is on the roll. Global achieved Rs.380 crore in the first full year of its operations, and we are likely to cross the Rs.1,000-crore mark during this fiscal year.

What are the financial capabilities of Global Distribution in India?  

In terms of paid-up capital, Global Infonet ranks among the top three distribution companies in the country. We have access to financial capabilities of Global Distribution Group, which achieved a revenue of US$450 million in the year 2009. With access to institutional finance and internal accruals, we are well poised to meet the investment requirements of the projected growth in India.

What is the evolution path in the future and where is Global Infonet heading?

Our achievements in the first two years validate the premise that it is possible to build a large professional IT distribution company in India. We hope to evolve as a large broad line distribution company which is the preferred partner to both vendors and customers. We also aim to remain the employer of choice in IT distribution. Our immediate goal is to reach US$1 billion in revenue and we have given ourselves three years for that. We believe that market will present growth opportunities and we will have required capability set to benefit from this phase.

Ajay Kogta,
Country Manager-Indian sub continent,
Strontium

Global has grown very fast in the last one to two years. Its top management team is really good and understands channel business very well. I found respect among channel partners for this company which will add value for Global to grow further.  

With Global's nation wide network and motivated salesforce, we expect lots of value addition from Global in terms of market penetration and channel reach for our brand.

Global Infonet has the DNA of IT distribution i.e. from the Best in class IT brands that they carry to the sales force employed to sell these products. Their management style enables the individuals to shoulder the responsibilities and deliver. Today the Indian IT industry needs such focused & committed partners.

Global Infonet has been our committed & loyal partner for some time now and we only expect this relationship to further strengthen and grow further. 

Sanjay Yadav,
Director, Dell Distribution,
Dell India

We see them very good in micro financing leading them to good reach and breadth. Flexible procedures to on board partners and speed in executing things is another promise they carry. 

Keep the speed on! Their each out to the upcountry towns is another reason business to them.

Global Infonet is a young organization, nonetheless, they have an experienced team inside. I experience it as an enterprise that aim to make its big presence in distribution market in the country. They understand Indian market and have built up a fair reach and penetration in significant geographies and segments. They have combined a decent product and vendor mix, and completing their basket of offerings to the channels. Delta UPS is one such example of symbiotic relationship between Delta UPS and Global Infonet. Its growth trend is impressive and I understand that it is prepared to continue investing efforts to further consolidating its position in IT distribution. I hope that Global Infonet will utilize the pluses of a young organization, like dynamism and flexibility, to position themselves in a high bracket in a short time. We expect Global Infonet to significantly increase its mindshare for the power product since they are relatively new in power segment. Further, we plan to co-operate in appointing and serving new partners thru Global in un-represented territories to expand our business. I do not want to forget mentioning it here that efficient and reliable distribution and service to our existing partners continues to be a significant KRA for Global Infonet.

G.Ramesh,
Director - OEM Distribution and Reseller Channel,
Microsoft India.

Global is highly agile and responsive and has played an important role in supporting us in expanding our footprint in the country. As a valued distributor, the company has been instrumental in helping us connect with our partners and customers. Infact, they have been recently conferred with the ‘Best Distributor’ award for the Microsoft Channel OEM business.

According to a recent Microsoft SMB Insight Report, SMBs are indicating an intention to leverage technology to reduce costs. With Global we can provide increased support to the local partner ecosystem which in turn helps us deliver improved support to the SMB community. There is a huge opportunity for us in the market and Global will play a key role in further increasing our reach especially in the tier 2 cities across the country.

Alex Li,
VP, HSB (Home & SMB),
Lenovo India

Global Infonet has been with Lenovo from 2009 when SMB in Lenovo had been reworked. In the last one year, Global has shown the tenacity to establish and reach out to a greater channel coverage and enhance the reach to the T2. Deep understanding of SMB IT market/ Channel coverage/ been able to drive and establish products in various markets would be their key strengths. We are expecting Global to play a larger role in SMB segment and work closely with Lenovo team to develop more new T2 partners, especially in SMB commercial NB segment.