"There are huge growth opportunities in data backup, storage, security & management on cloud as well as on premises"

Amit Mittal, Managing Director, Shree IT Solutions

Please give us a little brief about yourself and the company. 
I started my career in IT as a support engineer in 1999 and then started my own business of IT hardware retailing in 2004. My  experience of more than 22 years has helped maintain the growth path of our company year on year. Shree IT Solutions is a bridge between business needs in the world of IT products & services. We are a trusted and assured Solutions Partner with an experience of 17+ years of serving more than 500+ clients across PAN India. We understand the needs of our customers and help in creating a more productive and efficient business environment. Our priority is on providing a lower cost of ownership with the latest technological development. We are committed to offer technology products & services to our valued clients to help them grow. We are also Platinum partners with Lenovo and offer various business products & solutions to our business clients. 

Briefly explain your business model. What are the growth opportunities you see for yourself in the near future?
We provide a wide range of IT Infrastructure products, solutions & services to corporate clients in a B2B model. We acquire and then manage the client for all their needs related to IT by introducing them to relevant OEM’s and help in the integration. Being a Platinum partner with Lenovo, we provide better pricing to our clients. During the tough times of the pandemic, Lenovo was always there to support us in terms of material supply and client servicing. In the last few years, the opportunities received from Lenovo have helped us grow our business and expand our clientele.  We are doing pretty well in the space of computing, i.e. PC’s and are now aiming to grow in the domain of enterprise solutions. Additionally, there are huge growth opportunities in data backup, storage, security & management on cloud as well as on premises. Lenovo has similar growth plans in these areas and we are certain that we will continue to grow along with them. 

What drives your business growth? Can you describe your customers and why they would select you over your competitors?
Our passion to serve our clients with commitment and dedication helps us to grow. With changing technologies and environment, keeping ourselves updated helps us to keep at par with clients for any kind of technical support. Quality products offered by us like Lenovo ThinkPad & Thinkbook laptops, desktops are the market differentiators. It is quite easy to win deals against competition with these products & their aggressive pricing. After sales support offered by Lenovo is certainly at par with the competition and helps us keep our clients satisfied, which results in retainer clients. 

What is the most preferred brand/product by your customer and do they opt for any additional services? Have you seen any customer trends in the last few months?
There has been an increase in demand for laptops in the past year due to the COVID pandemic. Supply of laptops in the market was impacted. Clients were even resorting to leasing products to match demand. With companies shifting to a remote working environment, clients  were looking for more service offerings along with the laptop. Lenovo services portfolio was perfect for our clients. Services like Lenovo Premier Support & Onsite Installation along with extended warranty support were the game changer in these times.  

How has the organization tackled challenges post the COVID pandemic? How have you supported customers to ensure that the IT remote workforce runs smoothly during this time?
During the pandemic our biggest challenge was to provide material and support to users at various locations. We offered services to ship and manage products PAN India. This helped our clients to continue working seamlessly without any downtime. Additionally we continued to provide our on-site services. This additional offering has allowed us to support our customers and resolve their issues in real time. 

What are the technology trends to look out for in the SMB segment? 
The SMB segment is growing under many government initiatives like Make in India. Clients in this space are looking for technological solutions to help grow their business. As we all know video conferencing is the new buzz in the market where an individual’s location is no longer a constraint for business continuation. Similarly, some trends in the SMB segment include Remote Data/Application access, Data Security, Device’s integration & synchronization. Cloud solutions & Software as service is also booming among SMB clients as it reduces capital investment.

How was your digital transformation journey and how has it aided your employees and customers?
In the last year working styles for clients and our teams have changed due to pandemic. Physical presence & paperwork has reduced while digital documentation has taken over. Clients have moved from physical invoicing to digital forms. We also had to move our invoicing process from on premises to cloud for easy access.