HCL and its Partners are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Princy Bhatnagar VP,
Head-Consumer Computing,
HCL Infosystems

HCL Infosystems has always vouched for empowering its channel partners through various programmes such as trainings, certifications, incentive schemes, joint marketing campaigns, channel partner meets, etc. Through these activities, HCL has strengthened its relationship with existing channel partners and is increasing its presence in the country by adding new partners who help the company to better cover and address the market.

Besides large government and corporate projects, HCL aims to reach out to more than 900 cooperative banks, 50,000 small hospitals, pharmaceutical and thousands of universities and colleges. They believe that its channel ecosystem is the best medium to address business opportunities in these segment.

Developing partner base in the country

HCL’s strategy is aimed at leveraging and expanding its rich channel ecosystem. It is making its entire bouquet of products and services available to its channel partners and has launched various partner development initiatives and incentive programmes which will allow the company to build a solid partner base. “It also offers a great opportunity to our channel partners to participate in projects that were previously done directly by our SI business and are worth around Rs.700 crore. This new channel paradigm allows any channel partner, irrespective of his current level in our channel ecosystem, freedom to conduct any business. Channel partners can either sell HCL-branded products (laptops, tablets, desktops), services and office automation products, or distribute our wide array of third-party products (Dell, Huawei, ZTE, Acer, etc) or front-end in the SI projects or can even perform all the three roles together,” says Princy Bhatnagar, Vice President, Head-Consumer Computing, HCL Infosystems.  

Various Channel programs of HCL

For nurturing the channel partner ecosystem, HCL currently has been running various incentive schemes and enablement programmes for its partners and will continue to launch them. Going forward, some of the major elements of these programmes are:

• Training and certifications – periodic  product trainings and certifications for partners are held 

• Funnel review – understanding the potential of channels, depending on the accessibility 

• Partner coverage – HCL has programmes like the Speed Master Programme for its Tier-3 partners to achieve width of distribution and better coverage in the various parts of the country. 

• HCL has Quarterly Incentive Programmes for facilitating faster liquidation for partners, upselling and tackling competition.

Evolution path in the future 

At present, HCL has nearly 450 channel partners, of which about 270 are doing consistent business for the company. “We want to integrate the whole channel ecosystem at the regional and national level so that it can act in multiple locations and function in multiple ways to achieve business targets. We also aim to engage with more channel partners for addressing business opportunities in sectors like cooperative banks, healthcare, e-municipalities, e-districts, e-panchayats, and municipal schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan. Most of our partners offer a multi-brand portfolio, and we aim to bring service and support with better business practices that nurtures our existing set of partners and helps us bring in more partners,” says Bhatnagar.

Distribution Network in the Country

HCL Infosystems offers distribution services for a wide array of products. Apart from its own range of products, HCL also distributes other brands like Nokia, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, ZTE, Molex, EMC, etc. Once a partner signs up with HCL, he not only gets to sell HCL’s proprietary products and services portfolio, but the entire bouquet comprising of a wider range of products of different brands with which HCL has tie-ups. HCL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Digilife Distribution and Marketing Services (DDMS), is the largest distribution house for Telecom, Digital Lifestyle and IT products in India and has a large reach in the organized trade, in top 200 towns, tier-III and -IV towns. The distribution network connects with 136,000 retail outlets across India for consumer products. The business has warehouse operations across 33 states in India, including North East and Kashmir and handles complex logistics of 7 million units every month.  

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Partners Speak
 

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Ashish Saxena,
Director,
Adtek Computers

“I have been associated with HCL since 2005. As a Premium Partner of HCL, it gave me recognition on the State and National level. HCL has given us fame and name in the IT market after being associated with HCL .We have always made a handsome margin on HCL products.  HCL has made my dream come true. In a span of eight years, we never had any negatives about the brand. The HCL team is always with us for assisting us on closing deals, promotion and service support. The incentive structure is very transparent and consistent. The claims and joining formalities are simple and the payments are always made on time. The support has been excellent. The key is to promote an Indian brand – HCL. It is a brand that gives a featured laptop specifically for the Indian consumers. HCL’s support is excellent and has a wide range of products. And they give a fantastic margin on all of their products. I already have two retail outlets at prime locations in Indore. My future plan is to open three more retail outlets of HCL in Indore and upcountry. The co-branded outlet policy and joint marketing collaterals give a direct impact of brand image on our customers which is vital for us to spur growth. I am always with HCL to grow gradually and be in the pick of HCL flag- bearers in future.”

Himanshu Gupta,
Proprietor,
SSDN Infosolutions

“Our association with HCL began in 2008. It has been a great honour and a matter of pride to have been associated with HCL as a premium partner. We have built strong relations with the company during our association and have been able to provide to our customers reasons to enforce their trust, and be able to give them reasons to keep coming back to us for an unparalleled products and service support. HCL has not ignored market realities and has always set the right expectation. They have been at par to meet all of our needs on time. HCL is a brand with huge business potential and a wide range of products. We in the partner business community need to ensure and maintain healthy business practices and be committed to deliver our best to our customers, fully utilize support of the principal company in doing the same and also strengthen goodwill of the principal in turn. Our commitment and engagement with the brand HCL is of prime importance. We are an extended family to the company and shall go the extra mile at all times to ensure that the brand grows strong. We dedicate our resources and intent for the growth of the brand and believe that our growth shall automatically happen in turn. We strive to ensure healthy business practices on our part and provide relevant feedback and demand for action on time to ensure we are always ahead of our competitors.”

Nataraja C A,
CEO,
Nirman Consultancy & Services

“We have been associated with HCL for more than seven years now. HCL has brought me recognition of being the company’s exclusive and sole distributor for the region of Karnataka. My commitment with a single brand brought me closer to achieving a holistic growth. Every company has its own ups and downs. HCL also has had its share of ups and downs which have mitigated during the course of time. They have remodelled their channel strategy around incentives and support and services programmes which are very beneficial for partners. My message to the peer partners is to stay committed and focussed. This will bring recognition to our efforts. To HCL, we ensure continuous perseverance for taking its solutions to the market.”