Dell Optiplex 960

Dell's commitment - towards Customers and Partners

What kind of trends are you seeing in the IT industry, especially in the Indian market when it comes to desktops, All-in-Ones and laptops and monitors and projectors?

 

 

The industry is due for a refresh cycle - somewhat postponed due to the difficult economic environment over the last 18 - 24 months. Gartner recently recommended that companies should not extend the life of the traveller's notebook beyond three years and desktop PCs beyond four years.

 

 

Small businesses and consumers alike are increasingly looking for attributes such as design, ease-of-use and portability without compromising on performance and security. The All-in-One's clutter-free design minimizes the amount of space the computer takes up on the desk to provide business buyers with a powerful, stylish and affordable desktop computer. We expect green IT to become important over the coming years as corporates and consumers alike recognize the need for power efficiencies in their laptops as well as desktops. Easy-to-manage, energy- efficient and affordable desktops offering high security will be in demand.

 

 

What is the overall market size? Elaborate on your market share?

 

 

As per IDC, total India PC sales rose by 33% in the JFM 2010 quarter, compared to the same period last year. Sales of desktop computers, which accounted for about two-thirds of the total PC sales of 2.2 million units in the quarter, rose 18% to 1.4 million units. Notebook computer sales surged 72% to 803,000 units. The consumer segment saw PC sales jump 42% in the quarter, while shipments to the commercial segment rose 28%. Dell India’s market share accounted for 13.6%, which helped us retain our number 2 ranking.

 

 

What is your product range that caters to the Indian market?

 

 

Dell listens to its customers keenly and is able to provide solutions according to the market conditions and is committed to meeting specific customer needs. With our advanced and futuristic technology, we offer enhanced efficiency and productivity.

 

 

Product range for the consumer segment

 

 

We have colourful All-In-One offerings in the consumer segment from the Studio and Inspiron range. The Studio One 19 is a great All-In-One option for the consumer segment with an optional touch capability that provides the optimal shared computing experience, especially for family uses to effortlessly view and move photos, manage music and review home work. Dell’s new Inspiron One 19 All-In-One home PC offers simplicity, flexibility, performance and fun delivered with truly unique style.

 

 

We recently launched Dell Inspiron R Series in the Indian market. Pre-loaded with easy-to-use software such as Dell Dock and DataSafeOnline, the Dell Inspiron R is a great choice for anyone who wants to easily access personal files and securely share photos and videos wirelessly. It is also the ideal mobile personal entertainment hub, offering smooth video playback, surround sound and a built-in Webcam.

 

 

Wrapped in curvy edges, smooth lines and four unique brushed metal finishes with chrome accents, the Dell Inspiron R laptops are as aesthetically designed as they are efficient in performance. Available in two display sizes from 14- and 15-inch models that fit perfectly in a messenger bag to home and dorm room, the Inspiron R series boasts a contemporary and sleek appearance suited to all environments.

 

 

Broadening the portfolio of choices for consumers, Dell's Adamo XPS is a notebook PC that sets new standards in craftsmanship, design and engineering excellence. Adamo XPS is a laptop with stunning aesthetics whose design provides a unique experience. With the swipe of a finger, the keyboard appears from under the display as the system is open. The feature set challenged engineers to build the latest technology into a compact space, including 4GB DDR3 RAM; Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 (1.4Ghz) ultra-low voltage processor; thin 128GB SSD for faster, cooler, quieter and more durable storage than traditional hard drives and a 13.4-inch high-definition display.

 

 

The mini-sized Inspiron Zino desktop PCs are versatile enough to handle tasks from basic computing chores to driving a big-screen, high-definition video media center. With a choice of colours, the Inspiron Zino desktops can be easily personalized as per an individual's distinct style in aesthetics. Priced at an affordable point, the Inspiron Zino is ideal as a household PC that can fit in tight spaces and can make home networking a cinch.

 

 

Products for SMBs

 

 

Dell's Vostro range is a budget-conscious solution tailored for mobile SMB professionals who want worry-free productivity, connectivity and graphics power. The notebook PCs are engineered to increase productivity while reducing total cost of ownership, featuring dramatic innovations in performance, durability and security. Built small and light for the road warriors or executives, they combine sleek looks, durability, advanced wireless connectivity and ideal platform for video conferencing tasks.

 

 

Products for large enterprises

 

 

Latitude E Series - Among the most powerful business laptops that set industry standards that set industry benchmark with a 19-hour battery life, intelligent back-lit keyboard and industry leading security features.

 

 

• Optiplex 960, Optiplex 360, Optiplex 160 - The refreshed Optiplex portfolio feature innovations in security, power consumption, serviceability and manageability to offer the technologically most advanced, secure and durable Optiplex desktops. The range includes Dell's first thin client offering with an expanded range of flexible computing solutions to give companies more choice, control and flexibility and lifecycle management services that lower the total cost of ownership.

   

• Latitude 2100 - Launched last year, the Latitude 2100 is "student-rugged" specifically geared for student community, offering an industry first of "four-square-ball-style" rubber casing. It also offers interesting features such as a network activity light that would help teachers monitor network activity and identify students who may be cyber day dreaming than focusing on task at hand.

   

We have also launched our most powerful, next-generation enterprise servers and storage portfolio that helps customers cut costs and complexity through a combination of innovative software and services. Optimized for virtualized environments, with lower costs of acquisition and ownership as compared to competition, these have exceptional management capabilities and power efficiencies to help customers make the most of their IT environment.

 

 

In fact, the abovementioned are the popular products of Dell in India.

 

 

What kind of margins/ benefits do partners get? What are the opportunities for channel partner?

 

 

As a policy, Dell assures consistent margins to channel partners. We do not disclose the margins allotted to partners.

 

 

Dell is committed to listening to its customers and partners and we work closely with the channel through our teams to make sure the smooth implementation of our various channel schemes. Dell’s channel program is focused on ensuring that the consumers get access to the products while making sure that our channel partners and resellers remain profitable.

 

 

How important is after-sales service support? How big is your service-support network?

 

 

At Dell, after-sales support is a means of ensuring total customer satisfaction. Dell has an extensive service coverage network of 14 service centers across major cities in India for the consumer segment. We offer varied service and support options such as warranty, next business day on-site support and have recently introduced Complete Accidental Cover option for customers, which allows them free repairs or replacement for Dell machines in case of any accidents.

 

 

Do you have partners associated with Dell for providing service exclusively? Yes or No, please elaborate.

 

 

Dell plans to launch services through the channels, though primarily for its commercial segment later this year. We will keep you updated on this announcement, as and when it happens.

 

 

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We have been partners of Dell for the past one year and the way we have grown with them is significant. Though we started with a different brand in the storage category, but realizing the strengths of Dell of meeting customers' end-to-end requirements, we switched to their brand. At VSM, we exclusively deal with Dell. Our association with Dell enables to build our services around SAN and NAS. Besides that, we build services around practices like virtualization, backup and restore archival and business continuity.

 

 

Dell goes to the extent of sharing potential customers. Next comes the phenomenal support from their internal sales team to the partners' team. We get access to the extensive Dell information base through their Dell Partner portal.

 

 

Besides helping in lead generation, Dell lends a helping hand in terms of providing a demo unit. Dell offers EqualLogic demo storage units at a highly discounted price. This helps us in two ways: one, it helps us in learning about the product better and gain expertise in it. Second, we can take the demo unit to the customer’s space to talk to the customer with confidence. Their deal registration process is another good channel initiative and we believe it is the best in the industry, and the list goes on.

 

 

As far as Dell's strength is considered we feel that besides being a channel-friendly company, they have a comprehensive range of product portfolio suiting the requirements of the Indian customers. It is well positioned to cater to the storage space. Understanding that affordable scalability and performance is required by SMBs, Dell's partner base on board addresses well these needs of the Indian customers.

 

 

Though currently we have a presence in Delhi and Dehradun, considering the enormous opportunities and market needs we would be making our presence in Bangalore and Mumbai too by the end of this financial year.

 

 

 

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With Dell, we grow

 

 

 

We are a nine months old company. We started with focussing on SMBs and then gradually moved on to SMEs. Servers and storage comprise our offerings. Why did we choose partnering with Dell was because they have very few partners on board, meaning not the usual crowd and cut-throat competition. After partnering with them, we have been able to do good business in the market covering new bunch of customers.

 

 

Customers look for end-to-end solutions. Dell already has a strong presence in terms of server market and the future growth area is storage. So, with Dell, now we have started addressing the same. We are organizing meets on 21st & 28th July in Bangalore and Chennai, respectively. We are inviting around 100 customers to have a touch & feel of our Dell’s data center solution offerings comprising of servers along with their EqualLogic storage boxes and their switches. We expect to achieve a major breakthrough at these meets. The biggest advantage of Dell's portfolio is that we don’t have to fit in the missing pieces. Rather, Dell has complete offerings under one roof, which is not possible in the case of competition.

 

 

We are well equipped to offer right from building the data center to the handholding exercise to the customer in terms of turnkey solution offerings. Storage is required by all big and small businesses. Our focus currently is on storage, and Dell is helping us to target customers.

 

 

Another advantage in the storage business is that profit margins are higher. To top it, our association with a brand like Dell ensures less time to convince customers.

 

 

For more contact :
beenish@varindia.com

 

About the Author

http://www.varindia.com

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