Distributionoutlook2013

Disclaimer: While the publishers have made every attempt possible to get accurate information on published content in this handbook they cannot be held liable for any errors herein.

Co

nte

nt

s

special supplement by P.o. Box: 121075, Montana Building 404, Zabeel Road, near GPo, Karama,Dubai-UAe, tel: 04-3705022 Fax: 04-3706639

Mitsumi’s grand planfalls into place

trigon tuned in to market dynamics

Asian Continental’s grand regional ambitions

Horizons widen for Comguard

snB has finger on regional markets’ pulse

nItI updates its African game plan

storIt puts high value on the VAD model

Mes’s scope spans wider asopportunities beckon

6, 7

8

10

12

14

16

18,20

22

Distribution Outlook 2013[ 4 ]

Distributors will be well represented at GIteX, as they should be.

Few outside the It world really have an idea the role technology distributors play, or if they even exist in the first place. to the average It consumer the products supply chain starts with the brand they seek to purchase and ends with the reseller. Distributors have been all too happy to play this behind-the-scenes role, unjustly obscuring the almost inimitable role they play in the supply chain.

It seems that a few are attempting to break from the mould. I saw the other day one of the bigger distributors around having taken ad space in a train station, of all places, just in time for GIteX. the justification for such a consumer-oriented marketing approach may seem a tad baffling.

It’s my opinion though distributors should attempt to ingrain themselves better with the end consumers. It is becoming highly personal and people or businesses would want to identify with an entire ecosystem. It could take inspiration with the foodie movement. these connoisseurs of good taste, literally, have taken as their prerogative to identify and recognize the entire food supply chain, partly for ethical reason, partly to personalize their food consumption experience.

so why would anyone care if a customer can identify who delivered what to who?

Because as a distributor, you want the end customer to identify you as an ethical, responsible and proactive business concern which in turn translates into better customer relations with resale partners.

A lot of visitors GIteX will be It professionals of some sort but there will be the curious, tech savvy visitor attracted by the dazzle of new gadgetry and high-tech. Distributors should not shy away from engaging with this potential customers and explaining to them their role in the It channel. they could then direct them to their resale partners if they ever require some product or service.

In the not-too-distant future, personal connections will be key in growing the It business.

Makingthe Connection

Editorial

David Ndichu,editor


Mitsumi recently launched a Value Added Distribution division. Please discuss the motivation behind this this year we launched our VAD division and already signed with such value brands as Riverbed, IBM, and HP networking. We have hired a lot of personnel for this division-30+ employees including a very experienced ex-Cisco employee to head this VAD division. VAD is a major area of focus for us moving forward and we are making huge investment going in this area. By next year this division is expected to become a major contributor to our top line and bottom line.

How does Mitsumi seek to balance between value addition and the traditional distribution? With our VAD ambitions on

track, we still do not want to lose sight of the traditional volume business where a lot of our growth is coming from. In Africa, value may mean a different thing though. For instance, how much credit you are giving in local currency to your partners is a value proposition. then you have logistics which is a challenge across the continent. With Mitsumi having been in business for 17 years, we have the experience and competence of moving through these logistical challenges in Africa. All this is part value addition that we undertake and that is why Mitsumi is a preferred distributor for many vendors and resellers.

How big and sophisticated is your primary African market for VAD solutions?the African continent represents

Mitsumi recently underlined its leading market position by launching a VAD division. Chairman & CEO Jagat Shah discusses how this will impact on the company’s standing

Falling into Place

Jaga

t Sha

h, Ch

airma

n & CE

O, Mi

tsumi

its own complexities since we are not dealing with one but 52 countries with vast differences in language and culture besides each country being regulated by different import & duty laws. our biggest strength has been our understanding of this very challenge, the African market today has a growing financial sector, enterprise and public sector in addition to an ever-robust sP space. Africa today can boast of VARs which have identified themselves as experts on such verticals and therefore our GtM differs for each Industry vertical.

In addition, you engage in a lot of training activities for your channel partners. Discuss some of these events and how they contribute towards your business objectives

In Focus | Mitsumi

Distribution Outlook 2013 [ 7 ]

We engage in plenty of channel and training events with various vendors. In the last quarter we ran six boot camps for Microsoft across the African region. We have also run a special banking seminar for the financial industry. We have 14 events lined up in different parts of Africa in Q4. this kind of engagement with the market is the differentiator for us and that is why we are making major investments.

Despite being the most visible of all African-centric distributors, your hunger for expansion seems undiminished. Discuss some areas you are looking to expand to in the coming year. We are growing organically and opening new territories all the time. this year we are consolidating our position in the sADC region through opening a hub in south Africa to manage the southern African region. Going forward, we are looking at French West Africa where we already have a presence but it’s a region we hope to scale even more with countries such as Cameroon, senegal, Ivory Coast as well as Indian ocean Islands. Mitsumi will thus become the distributor with the largest footprint in terms of offices, warehouses, service centres in the majority of African countries.

Most importantly, we are hoping to expand through acquisition in Africa and we are in

the process of identifying a viable candidate so we can scale our growth.

You’ve been able to sign some very prominent names in IT solutions like HP, Dell SonicWALL among others. What does this say about the Mitsumi name and brand?We have been quite successful in forming great relationships with most of the key vendors. In addition to the above, we have also signed on IBM, Riverbed and Polycom lately. this demonstrates our ability to “invest” in technology-rich areas and the faith reposted in us by some of the global leaders speaks for itself. Mitsumi Value division is on the cusp of creating a great story for itself in Africa.

You are returning to GITEX this year. Please discuss some of the plans you have for this eventWe hope to have a lot of visibility for our key vendors on our stand. towards that, we are running a lot of media campaigns with stand advertisement in regional media to pull visitors to our stand. In addition, we will undertake email marketing from our database of thousands of subscribes as well as major a social media major campaign we will be running on Facebook. Visitors to our online stand a chance of winning major prizes on competitions we are running for our subscribers.

sanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, recently signed a distribution deal with Mitsumi, one of the largest and fastest growing It distributors in Africa.

Mitsumi distributes to over 19 countries in Africa including Kenya, tanzania, Ghana, tunisia, Morocco, Zambia and namibia.

“Mitsumi is delighted to be associated with a pioneering technology company like sanDisk, which has impacted people’s digital lives,” said Mitesh shah, managing director at Mitsumi Distribution. “Mitsumi, with its pan–Africa presence and width of distribution, is excited to work with a dynamic brand like sanDisk, and grow the sanDisk flash memory storage business to its full potential in the captive and emerging markets of Africa.”

the agreement follows the rise of smartphones in Africa, which has increased by 43% every year since 2000.

Mitsumi, SanDisk inDistribution deal


Discuss some specific segments and what solutions you offer in those areasWe cover all three segments of the market; Resellers, Retailers and sMe-Corporate. With Resellers, the focus is more towards volume business and also some traditional products. Retail we focus on consumer-oriented and lifestyle products and for sMe- corporate, the focus is more towards products that fit into Government, Financial, education, Health and Hospitality segments.

Discuss some trends in the technology distribution business Display business is shrinking; mobility products be it Ultra books, notebooks, tablets and smart phones segment are growing. Digital printing and printing segment is also growing as are networking and WiFi products.

What value in your opinion does Trigon add to your channel partners and vendors alike?trigon philosophy has always been our commitment towards

the It Community and the society so that “together” we can build a beautiful world for everyone to continue to live and enjoy the benefits. trigon remains a much-focused distribution company with objective to build quality business. We are a Company that believes in GP and Bottom Line Basics.

Discuss your investment in infrastructure in terms of warehouses, offices, service centres etc. across the Middle East and Africa regionWe are a UAe-based company and also maintain a fully-fledged sales office in Bahrain. In other countries (GCC, Africa and the sub-Continent) we work through our partners. Plans are afoot to open two more offices in the next six months and are working on suitable options

Discuss some marketing and sales support you extend to your resale channel partnersFrom time to time we plan loyalty or rebate programs and cross-bundle promotions to motivate our partners, both resellers and retailers. We also constantly

Aru

n Ch

awla

, CEO

, Trigo

n

In Focus | Trigon

engage in media coverage for our partners depending on the product line they handle. For Channel, we have regular product updates and training. In retail, we do provide promoters or merchandisers and hold regular product updates, selling skills and customer handling trainings

What are your major focus areas for Trigon in 2014our priority is still to remain focused on the reseller segment, Retail and Corporate sMs. Moving forward, we are looking to put more Focus on the Retail Business and expand Retail related product line as well as accelerate our focus on the sMe segment and expand product line related to this segment. to adequately cover our customers’ needs, we are looking to expand our service Centre and to add more vendors and products to provide value-added services related. to keep growing, we continue to put emphasis on Profitability and improve Gross margins and better Cash Flow Management and Accounts Receivable, manage costs and invest if there is an opportunity for quality business

One of the oldest distribution companies in the Middle East, Trigon’s continuous evolution makes it a partner of choice in the new technology age. CEO Arun Chawla on how the company manages to keep with the times.

Tuned in


Asian Continental is a late entrant into the crowded IT market in the Middle East. What was your motivation? After studying the local UAe market, we felt there was a huge gap in B2B services which we were confident we could bridge, and I am happy to confirm that within a very short period we have managed to create a very positive reputation for ourselves based on our straight forward services and complete commitment to the client’s benefit. We have now entered into distribution of high end, innovative technology products and once again aim to impress our customers with our great service and support.

Discuss some key recent launches by Asian Continental and their expected impact on the marketAsian Continental LLC has been focused on providing diligent and efficient technical services to the business community of Dubai and the region since it started operations in the UAe. originally one of the top 40 pharmaceutical

It would seem foolhardy for any company to attempt to enter into as crowded a market as the regional IT space. However, Asian Continental seems to have found just the right opening to exploit as CEO Syed Nophil Rizvi explains.

manufacturing and marketing concerns based in Pakistan, we know everything there is to know about product/service quality and the impact it makes in the long term.

You recently launched a revolutionary product-the Almond router. Discuss some key specs of this product and why you feel it’s a game changerthe Almond router brings a unique freshness to the existing “Consumer networking Products” segment. It is the world’s first router that has been designed with one purpose in mind: convenience. sporting a one-of-a-kind touchscreen, the router comes almost preconfigured to the point that users need not engage in any complicated configuration procedures before using it. the step-by-step friendly setup wizard on the touchscreen guides you through and you can be up and running within minutes. the Almond is also a very powerful product as it also provides the customer with the option of using it as

a conventional router (wired or wireless connection to an existing network), range extender (repeating an existing Wi-Fi signal to increase its effective range) or as a wireless bridge (connecting a wired device to a Wi-Fi network).I’d like to add that the Almond is currently Amazon customer’s #1 choice as Router, Repeater and Access Point.

Discuss some key segments that you target Asian Continental will always focus on bringing unique and innovative products to the discerning customer. We prefer to work on niche products and strive to convert them into mainstream choices. since our current field of business is technology related, we will continue to monitor emerging products and solutions globally and selecting the ones we feel would click with the consumer in our region. that said, we are currently focused on unique networking products and are also seeking to enter the communications segment with even more innovative solutions very soon.

Grand Ambitions

In Focus | Asian ContinentalN

ophi

l Riz

vi, C

EO, A

sian C

ontin

ental


In Focus | Comguard

well. However currency volatility is a challenge but it could also give us an advantage when the currencies are doing well.

Please expound on these expansion plans described aboveWe are looking to increase our presence in individual countries. We will have local presence in places like Qatar and Kuwait so that we are closer to market to support or channel and also to tap project opportunities better. We already have a fully-fledged team in KsA as well.

Discuss recent developments at Comguard?We have been restructuring the company to make it process driven so that customers and vendors can benefit. this includes better CRM, centralized Marketing systems etc.; there will be more centralized activities from the head office.

We will also be introducing a team for quality control and alliance management in addition to sales and Product Management. this team will work with marketing to support the sales by driving awareness of our complete portfolio specifically in instances where there is a

possibility for customers being interested in other products we carry. Further, sometimes we are not aware of detailed feedbacks from vendors or partners. this independent function directly reporting to me will get us better feedback by probing the market. It also means we will be able to do more activities which will enable vendors with their go to market strategies.

We have also been expanding geographically and vertically. We will also seek to add more products so that we will become a more broad-based distributor. We have been definitely missing out on growth opportunities in certain domains due to our absence. For instance, we will look at voice and other key areas.

Discuss some of the events Comguard participates in?We are focused more on partner events and those that are vertical focused. We have been focusing on security, hospitality shows etc. where we get to meet domain focused attendees and which helps meet our objectives better. those are cost effective as well. But we will also continue to use GIteX as a platform to meet vendors and partners.

Bigger is better in the distribution business and as CEO Ajay Chauhan explains, Comguard’s future prosperity lies in expanding into new territories while consolidating its position as a leading VAD in the region.

Wide Horizons

Ajay ChauhanCEO, Comguard

The industry has experienced some noteworthy consolidation due to buyouts and mergers in the recent past. What does this indicate for VADs from a Comguard perspective?Consolidation is good and we have seen a couple of large acquisitions recently. eventually, either the smaller and medium sized distributors will get larger on their own or look to be bought out. We have ambitions of growing in size as a geographically spread out distributor and not be perceived as only a regional distributor; either as a Middle east company only or Indian or Asia firm. We have expanded into India and have substantial operations there. We are replicating the successful model we already have here in India and it looks quite promising. We have covered north Africa as


and security solutions offering. In regards to new brands, snB recently signed region-wide partnership agreements with broadband wireless vendor Proxim Wireless, wireless network infrastructure vendor enterasys, and security software vendor seclore technologies. We have also enhanced our physical presence having set up new offices in Doha – Qatar, and nairobi - Kenya and on the verge of setting up operations in saudi Arabia

What is SNB’s value proposition to your clients? snB brings technology-driven, quality products & solutions to its partners and their customers at a competitive price proposition. We also act as an extended arm for our vendors by making their solutions accessible to partners and customers across the region. We have positioned ourselves as a vendor representative company rather than just an It distributor. therefore our emphasis will be on adding value to the brands we represent, while enhancing our offerings to our customers.

Briefly discuss your GITEX plans and what visitors can expect from SNBthis is the first year snB is participating at GIteX technology Week, as we believe it will give us a platform to showcase our solutions and value-add to a wider audience. At GIteX, we want to showcase snB as the only Value-Added Distributor focusing on security surveillance, Data storage, networking and It-security products and solutions, and to make the Middle east market aware of the powerful range of products we carry in our portfolio. We also seek to create awareness about some of the leading brands in our portfolio like nexsan, enterasys, Axxon, Mobotix, Proxim Wireless and seclore in Middle east. snB makes the best and unique technologies accessible to resellers and customers in this region, and we believe our participation at GIteX will help us reach a wider audience of vendors, resellers and end users from across the world and the region.

Finger on the Pulse

In Focus | SNB

Abd

ul R

auf C

houg

le, G

roup G

M, SN

B

SNB’s solutions encompass some of the fastest growing segments of the regional IT market, which should augur well for the company moving forward. Group General Manager Abdul Rauf Chougle explains.

Please discuss some key solutions and products in your portfolioWe are a new generation Value Added It distributor with a specialization in storage & backup, networking, CCtV surveillance and It security solutions. We carry some of the leading edge brands in the market such as nexsan (by Imation), tandberg Data, Infortrend, enterasys, Proxim Wireless, Allied telesis, Mobotix, Axxonsoft, Retrospect, seclore.

Discuss some trends dictating the direction of the Middle East IT market currentlythe Middle east region has been very receptive to new products as long as they are technically superior. snB is very confident of being successful in promoting all its products, since all are best-in-class and very popular elsewhere in the world.

Discuss recent developments at SNB in terms of new vendor partnerships, expansion and market growth We are on a major expansion drive to extend our networking


hit by economic uncertainties as recent increases in interest rates attest. this combined with weaker domestic activity have led to some weak capital outflows and currency depreciation affecting our own operations. We are hopeful of growing faster in 2014 than what we did in 2013 and we will be adding more brands to help that.

Discuss how the IT industry is evolving in Africa and how NITI is handling the evolutionIt industry in Africa is evolving at a faster pace than expected. We are a major desktop distributor in most of the regions and we have seen a drop in that business segment in the past couple of months, hence we are now evolving with the market and moving towards selling more of laptops and mobility devices.

Computing is going increasingly mobile. Is it in your near-future plans to focus on mobility devices?In recent years, the desktop computer seems to be losing some of its steam. Advances

in technology have made it possible to create smaller and lighter computers. As mobile requirements grow, companies will require large numbers of mobile apps going forward. there will need to be a mix of internal and external apps and sites, all with different requirements. the drop in development team productivity will be due, in large part, to It organizations going through the process of integrating mobile AD into their organizations. We have already got in to that space by focusing on tablets and high end smart phones from samsung, toshiba and Acer for whom we are distributors in various parts of Africa.

Discuss any emerging areas of distribution in Africa that you are keen to get intoWe are looking into networking and software distribution. the It device distribution is becoming competitive day by day and the margins are wafer thin and our move into networking and software distribution will help balance our market growth.

NITI’s Game Plan

In Focus | NITIPo

nnin

Sel

van,

VP, S

ales &

Mark

eting

, NITI

NITI’s bid to cover the entire African continent continues apace, recently expanding its West African operations. We caught up with Ponnin Selvan, VP, Sales and Marketing to update us on this development and more from the Pan-African distributor

Discuss recent expansion programmes you have undertaken We have opened a new branch in Ghana couple of months back and we’ve been setting up the office in order to achieve operational excellence. We recently added a new brand called enGenius, a manufacturer of long-range wireless communication network equipment. enGenius features a complete product line for all wireless environments, from enterprise-class wireless communications systems which includes long-range cordless phones, network servers and security products, wireless mesh networking for digital wireless network cities, to end-user wireless network products.

Discuss NITI’s performance in 2013 so far and what you are expecting for 2014We were targeting to grow at 40% year-on-year from 2012; we have been on this growth pattern as projected and we expect to hit these numbers this year as well. Many emerging economies, and our markets, have recently been


What strengths do you draw from being a specialist data storage solutions provider?As a specialist in data management and storage solutions, our team is able to identify, train and enable a knowledge based reseller channel that is highly competitive in generating demand and successfully delivering our vendor’s solutions to consumers across the region. the essence of our company’s business model, based on value services, is to build partnerships with our resellers that could bring consistent revenue growth opportunities and lead them up the value chain.

storIt has always been ahead with introducing emerging technologies and solutions in the data centre and the storage space. our current offering is in itself revolutionary to what we were offering a year back. We are now offering customers storage solutions defining the new realms of storage technology, high

speed connectivity upto 56Gbps and vendor agnostic storage management and reporting tools, which gives an overall view of the storage platform.

In certain eco-systems where storIt drives business, partners require value added support for certain products and the experience, handholding and continuous resources to grow their business in that region. over the years, storIt has pioneered that delivery model of value and hence, it is a business which has its own sphere of challenges, which are different from volume business, which has its own. In short both models are difficult to co-exist.

Discuss briefly your channel partnerships and the kind of resale partners you sign up withWe look for partners, who are innovative, have a hunger to grow and would invest in the business in phases on results. We help such

StorIT encompasses what VAD is all about, not just providing solutions, but backing them up with true support throughout the sale process. Boby Joseph, CEO, explains how this has helped to empower their resale partners

High Value

In Focus | StorIT

Boby JosephCEO, StorIT

Data Analytics

Data Protection

Data Storage

Cloud Computing

Big Data

High Performance Computing& Data Centre Solution

ENTERPRISE

Data ManagementSOLUTIONS

A u t h o r i z e d M i d d l e E a s t V a l u e A d d e d D i s t r i b u t o r f o r

StorIT Distribution fzcoP.O.Box 17417 Jebel Ali FreeZone, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesTel: +971 4 881 9690 | Fax: +971 4 887 1637Email: [email protected] | www.storit.co

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Enterprise data management solutions.pdf 1 10/3/13 2:32 PM


In Focus | StorIT

partners achieve those goals, which in turn helps them achieve better results on their investments and thus rise up the partnership ladder with us and the vendor. eventually, we try to help a sMB partner to grow to be an enterprise partner and a special group partner with privileged support and services from the vendor and storIt.

the essence of storIt’s business model, which is based on value services, is to build partnerships with their resellers that could bring consistent revenue growth opportunities and lead them up the value chain. We sign up with resellers who are performance oriented and can align with our programs and those of our vendors.

With so many brands, how do you enable your partners to offer integrated solutions to customers?our core value addition is that we architect and deliver the vendor’s or our internal lab certified solutions. these are customer tested, vendor tested and referenced architectures. this is a billed service, which is delivered for nominal fee or FoC as a value addition only to our registered partners, who have committed business. For other partners, we extend this service at very

nominal cost, which is returned to them by value, or service.

We put a strong emphasis on creating significant value for both our customers (reseller channel) and our vendors. this makes us a rather relevant and valuable part of their success. As long as we are able to maintain our superior domain expertise while we innovate and adapt to evolving market and industry opportunities, we will continue to be the leading specialized value distribution company in the region.

In addition to bringing leading-edge technology to the region, we provide our channel partners key value additions such as advanced pre-sales consultancy, project assessment, solution planning and design, technical implementation & deployment, technical support & maintenance services and managed services.

Discuss some key segments for StorIT in the regionWe foresee serious growth opportunities in the area of special Compute Projects, HV Analytics, Visual Analytics, Big Data, HPC and Cloud Computing in addition to our existing distribution business. storIt, today, has the capability to deliver end-to-end project specific and

benchmarked appliances and solutions. Partners and resellers have access to greatest of technologies through us in the changing landscape of big data, cloud & analytics

Discuss some Value-Added solutions that you offer to your channel partnersWe are responsible for the Pre-sales, sales and Post-sales of every solution we sell. this has helped the channel to address specific business needs of their customers for these technologies. We have developed methodologies, which are pioneered over a decade of experience, giving us the credibility for solution architecting, installing and total delivery of the solution.

through our Reseller Partner on-boarding program, we educate and train partners on product sales, implementation, system integration and technical support. We also offer sales & technical skills certifications, go-to-market sales activity plans, customized marketing plans for individual resellers, demand generation activities and cross-selling/up-selling opportunity identification. We also support partners through joint marketing incentive programs, seminars and workshops, digital marketing and Proof of Concepts.


Strategic focus on some key segments is paying off for MES, turning the company into one of the fastest growing distributors in the market. General Manager Omar Lutfi reveals how the com-pany has managed this feat.

Wider Scope

In Focus | MES

Discuss your channel partnership programme in terms of how you identify, enable and reward your resale partnersthe partner program is provided through of our vendors like epson, tP-LInK and netGeAR with Mes control. this is to encourage the partners to achieve their targets. For the other brands we carry like (Bitdefender & Linkcomn) Mes itself provides the program with the help of the vendor.

As distributors scale up to become VADs, discuss what other services you offer in

combination with traditional distribution businessFrom the wide range of the products we carry, from netGeAR, to Dahua, Linkcomn and QnAP we will be able to help our customer to build full network solution such as wireless, wired, storage & security camera solutions. In addition, we offer presales support by offering the right drawing network solutions and the right products to get the most cost effective solution.

Please discuss some of your key vendors and their standing in the Middle East IT marketMes is a distributor for eight brands, some of them for the whole region and others for part of the region, including epson, the number one brand

for Data show projector, Dot Matrix and Photo Printers. Also, they provide solutions such as banking, education and scanning solutions. Mes is the regional distributor except for KsA. We also distribute tP-LInK networking Products, the number two soHo networking brands in the GCC, and we distribute tP-LInK’s in the GCC except in KsA Iraq and syria. Also in our portfolio is netGeAR networking products, doing very well and growing on sMB level by providing full networking & storage solutions for small and medium enterprise level. Mes is netGeAR’s distributor for Me

region.other brands include

Bitdefender security, QnAP storage, Linkcomn Cabling, and Dahua security Cameras.

What can visitors expect at the MES stand during GITEX?since last year’s GIteX, we’ve expanded our portfolio and brought on board some leading brands including netGeAR networking Products, QnAP storage solutions, Linkcomn Cabling and Dahua security Cameras. We are very much focused on showcasing to our visitors our full range of solutions such as storage solution, wireless solution, networking solution, education solution, security camera solution & security software solution.

Omar LutfiGeneral Manager, MES

Documents

Distributionoutlook2013