Adapting to changing business needs

Channel Post speaks with K.S. Parag, Managing Director at FVC about state of IT channel and the company’s initiatives to enable its partners.

Briefly outline your current focus in the Middle East market?

FVC’s current focus is enhancing the channel landscape in the Unified Communication and Collaboration domain, and in the Infrastructure – Information Security domains.

What is the status of the Middle East IT channel?

The IT channel is rapidly evolving and there have been a number of changes in the vendor landscape as well. This dynamic nature of the channel when combined with the outcome approach that customers have today is changing a System Integrator’s outlook to business as well. Hence, the regional channel is currently trying to adapt to the changing business requirements and the challenges this entails.

How has the business been for your company in the region?

Thanks to our market-leading solutions from emerging technologies, we have been able to experience growth in the market with strong backing from our channel partners in the region.

What sort of products and solutions do you offer in the region?

We have an expansive portfolio of products, services and solutions that cover a number of domains namely, Unified Communications, Unified Collaboration, Audio-Visual, IT Infrastructure and Security.

Which brands / companies do you represent in this region? Which markets do you focus upon?

Our main vendors include Polycom, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Barco, Extreme Networks, Arista, NetScout, SilverPeak, Prysm, Logitech, Beyond Trust, Perpetuuiti and Kingston.

The markets that we are currently active in are UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and some specific countries in North Africa, with Saudi and UAE driving the majority of our business.

There are a lot of transitions happening in the Middle East IT market. Which are the most significant for your company in the region, and why?

For us, the first significant transition would be that in the market for Unified Communication. A lot of consolidation is happening in this market with fewer vendors in this category. Our partnerships with ALU and Microsoft Skye for Business have enabled us to offer key platforms to support our partners in addresing all unified communications’ requirements from their end customers.

Information Security is another area where we are seeing a lot of transition. FVC has further enhanced its Information Security portfolio in partnership with SonicWall and MalwareBytes in the region.

Describe the channel programs and initiatives your company is part of in the Middle East?

FVC recently launched the CHEER (Channel Enablement, Empowerment and Rewards) program which is an innovative partner development initiative that empowers our channel partners and their customers in maximizing the value from technology.

CHEER enables the channel to resell and support innovative technologies, creating differentiation and enhanced profitability for their respective businesses.

Our loyalty program addresses three key challenges:

  • Demand: Creating and addressing the demand for innovative technology products and services within enterprises.
  • Differentiation: Enabling partners with tools and education to differentiate themselves from the competition.
  • Profit: Generating sizeable revenues from the sale of innovative technologies.

In what ways is your company creating a more positive experience for channel partners working with the company?

FVC has always worked as an extended arm for its partner community for pre-sales, technical and also post-sales activities. Our long-standing experience has enabled us to offer added value to the partner ecosystem by providing all the required support (mentioned above) once a vendor partnership is signed up.

How are you helping channel partners to leverage the alliances they have with the company to expand business opportunities?

We work proactively with the channel to gain complete understanding of the market dynamics from our partners. Equipped with this knowledge we are able to effectively map a partner’s competency with FVC’s alliance partners and also in understanding the partner’s customer reach, enabling us to further judge which solution will be best suited from the vendor partnership.

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