Samir Shah, Director, IPG, HP India on new initiatives for partners…

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Indian IT industry off late has had faced the brunt of global meltdown. Even companies like Hewlett-Packard\'s Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) were at the receiving end. However, the vendor is now back on track, thanks to its innovative marketing strategies. Samir Shah, Director - LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions, Imaging & Printing Group, HP India in an interaction with Jalaj Roy Choudhury highlighted some of its new initiatives.

IT VAR News: What was HP Indias objective behind introducing a new global business unit, Managed Enterprise Solutions and making it a part of IPG?

Samir Shah : As a part of our strategic approach to address customized needs of large companies, HP recently established a dedicated global business unit, Managed Enterprise Solutions (MES). This unit aims to further fuel the growth of Managed Print Services (MPS) in India.

The division is structured to streamline our approach to the market opportunities, and ensur

e that direct customers receive the most comprehensive suite of customizable services, software and solutions integrated with HP\'s complete portfolio of intelligent devices.

ITVN: Kindly divulge details of channel engagements for MPS unit?

SS: HP is enhancing its channel-led MPS with select channel partners, known as Office Printing Solutions Partners, wherein the company makes a greater investment in business tools and programs that enable reseller partners to offer MPS to customers.

In addition, the enterprise business division has launched new products and solutions for enterprise customers in India to accelerate customer business results. This was supported by the largest ever rollout of new workflow solutions for key segments, including the public sector, services industry including BFSI, and the manufacturing & distribution industry.

ITVN: What is your distribution channel strategy?

SS: HP has witnes

sed overwhelming growth in the Indian market with an aggressive channel focus. We have an extensive channel partner network across the country, over 7250 channel partners comprising Premium Business Partners, Business Partners and Registered Resellers.

In addition, HP has 400 premium retailers and1500 multi vendor retailers. Presently, some of our focus objectives include to focus on top 100 partners to drive their growth through training and support, strengthening the upcountry focus by its sales reach to 450 cities through channel expansion and distributor strategy evolved around the focus to provide customerswith the best products and solutions.

We at HP undertake several initiatives to ensure that partners are in sync with our strategies. Channel being an integral part of HP, we strongly focus on its development. The company has expanded its channel network to enhance the total customer experience, thereby resulting in higher penetration of its produ

cts & better service.

ITVN: What are your plans to target SMB and Midmarket segments?

SS: At HP, we believe in delivering value and that imaging and printing goes beyond devices to solutions. One of our priorities for the SMB and mid-market verticals is to educate customers about the benefits of colour and using multifunctional devices. Currently, the colour penetration in India is about four percent, so there is a tremendous opportunity for businesses to relook at adopting colour, as it becomes affordable and offers more business value.

According to Gartner, the combined printer, copier and multifunctional product (MFP) market in India totaled nearly 0.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, which represented a 34.7% growth over the fourth quarter of 2008 and an 18% growth compared to the third quarter in 2009 which clearly shows the growing demand for MFDs in India.

The consolidation of multiple devices into one h

as being an ongoing accelerator for the industry and continues to gain traction. These devices have emerged as a one-stop-shop for all the document printing needs for businesses - SMB or enterprise. There is a clear advantage to an MFD it saves retail space as print, copy and fax functions are integrated into a single device thereby reducing TCO.

We at HP believe that printers form an integral part of multi functional devices and this continues to be a strong focus area.

ITVN: Energy consumption and environment concerns are two important factors that should be considered while developing new products and solutions. Whats your take on this?

SS: As the market leader in the imaging and printing space, it is HP\'s endeavor to create printing solutions that help customers improve their profitability. In fact, our latest range of printers is ENERGY STAR qualified, and helps customers save up to 50% on costs and energy. This holds true for our ink

jet OfficeJet printing solutions portfolio, as well as the LaserJet solutions.

Besides this, HP also has a Planet Partner program, which involves the recycling of cartridges, toners and packaging material used for packing printers. Our imaging and printing solutions come with various tools including the Carbon Footprint calculator; Duplex Printing and Instant-on technology, each of which helps an organization track its green footprint.