NETGEAR: on a Mission mode!

Subhodeep Bhattacharya
Regional Director - India & SAARC
NETGEAR Technologies India (P) Ltd.

NETGEAR has a clear focus on Retail (routers/ ADSL Modems/ Video streamers, etc.). Besides Enterprise, still SMBs and SMEs happen to be the market growth drivers in India and this is where NETGEAR's current focus is."Since I have joined the company, my entire efforts are going in positioning the company as SMB Infrastructure provider, that includes end-to-end networking, switches, wireless, storage and security," informs Subhodeep Bhattacharya, Regional Director - India & SAARC, NETGEAR Technologies India (P) Ltd.

Channel Route

Considering their extensive product portfolio, the brand is aiming to be an end-to-end infrastructure provider, especially targeting SMBs. "We have a regular 2-tier distribution comprising of two National Distributors catering to 30-40 (sub-distributors and tier-II solution providers), followed by some 1,000 resellers. This has helped us reach 64 cities," informs Subhodeep. NETGEAR also has a direct presence in the top eight cities. 

On the other hand, the company has started looking at appointing specific SMB-focussed SI partners who would position the entire NETGEAR portfolio from Networking to Security to Storage and Wireless. "We don't want to overcrowd the market by having multiple partners in a location. Rather, we are going to have niche selective partners whom we would develop as solution providers and let them decently drive the business," he added.

Power Shift Program 

To begin with, NETGEAR is focussing on 5-7 partners in the eight cities, where they have direct presence. Till date, they have been able to achieve half of this targeted number and are working with the brand on a case-to-case basis. "Now is the time when we have started putting in place the training to enable their pre-sales or post-sales teams. And thus, we have launched the 'Power Shift Program' which would enable them as a key driving force in the solution space," added Subhodeep.

Considering that every partner has a niche focus area like storage, wireless, surveillance, they would try to leverage on their competence and integrate NETGEAR products accordingly as their offerings. More than a vanilla training, it would be more specific where partners of similar interest areas would be invited e.g. training for only storage partners etc. Trainings have started in Q4 which is OND quarter and by the end of this Q4, these partners would be certified, though the nomenclature is yet to be decided. 

 Lastly

"The Indian channel community, by and large, is helpful, as far as you can make sense and propose valuable products for their customers and decent margins for them, they would stick to the brand. We would love them to be exclusive, but then we don't wish to force any such restrictions. For us, it is important to give them products which are different and make sense for their customers too," he added.

Rapid devaluation of the Indian rupee was a major concern early this year, but NETGEAR did not announce any price hike to ensure peace of mind for their customers and partners too. Still, he is bullish about the market opportunities and sees signs of market reviving.