Channel consolidation and expansion will be key to Technobind

Technobind’s focus on the ‘Use-case’ approach has been received well by its channel, which is also an indication that its strategy is going in the right direction. Harikrishna Prabhu, Director – Channels, TechnoBind Solutions tells VARINDIA of the strategic plans it has charted out for its channel eco-system and the opportunities it sees in the technology distribution space in the country - 

Where does channel stand in Technobind’s scheme of things? 

Technobind’s entire business is built around the channel. We are in the avatar of a Specialist Distributor closely working with the channel partners across the region. So our entire GTM revolves around the channel. It is a crowded market out there today. So our approach with the channel is to help them stand out in this crowded market place. We do it by helping them build a technology play which is more customer focused in terms of their business problems. Our use-case based approach has been well received by the channel which is big endorsement of the fact that our strategy and approach is in the right direction.

What are the strategic plans  you have in 2018 to build on your Channel eco-system?

In 2018 our plans are two pronged - Consolidate our channel depth in the Tier-1 cities and Expand the channel breadth into the Tier-2 cities. As our product portfolio expands, the vendor is banking on our support in building breadth and getting into new markets. For eg – East was one market we started focusing on at the beginning and we have had very good successes in both Kolkata and Dhaka (Bangladesh) and now into the upcountry North East as well. We also got our first HC in Dhaka – a technical consultant. At the same time we are also building depth in the Tier-1 markets by having a focused play with the Top 10 partners in every city. There is a comprehensive partner program rolled out for these aligned partners helping us take the engagement to the next level. We will also have a focused approach towards the large GSI channel as well.

What big opportunities you see in the country today?

The new direction of the IT deployment has thrown up a lot of challenges for the customers. And for us at Technobind we look at these challenges as opportunities as customers are struggling to keep up with the demands that these new initiatives are putting up for them. A classic example is that of the Aadhar implementation. The UIDAI mandate was to have the users of Aadhar to have a secure environment and an Aadhar Vault and we along with our partners have helped most of these organisations build the solution stack with our vendor partners’ technology stack. GDPR is yet another global challenge being thrown up - we have just started our campaign to target this use-case and we have also had our first few wins.

It is a great period for us in the next 18 to 24 months. With Technobind’s focus on Use-case approach to selling we are identifying each of these challenges and building up a technology stack that we are taking into the market with our reseller partners.

Which are the brands you are associated with? 

We have classified our brands into four cateogries - 

• Data Storage – Tintri, Infortrend, QSAN

• Data Protection – Commvault, Druva, Tandberg

• Data Management – Quest Software, Microfocus, Carbonite and Tableau

• Data Security – Safenet-Gemalto, Checkpoint, Seclore

Our services are primarily around complementing the efforts of our partners in helping the customers adopt these technologies. Our partners have a good services offering and our aim is to simply give them the support required for them to deliver on the required.

How is Technobind innovating, incentivizing and differentiating itself in terms of its offerings and market strategies? 

The only way we will stand out is by differentiating ourselves in everything we do, be it the technologies we sell or the GTM strategies or our Partners programs.

Nobody has such a needle like focus on technologies around DATA. Because of this we have not only built up expertise but more importantly we have been able to build a STACK, a technology stack which is helping our partners go into their customers with solutions which solve specific business problems of theirs.

Our focus on “USE-CASE” base approach or the SWIM LANE approach has brought in huge efficiencies in ours as well as our partners customer acquisition strategy. The use case has helped bring in clarity and focus in our sales motion on the field and this I believe is a huge differentiator and the main reason why partners love us. n