IBM rolls out channel initiatives for PC business

Nelson Johny

MUMBAI: IBM India's PC division has embarked on a major initiative to

significantly increase its presence in the PC business. It has identified 18

cities across the country where it plans to add about 250 channel partners by

the end of JFM quarter.

"We are putting together a focused set of people to address the customer

requirements. We have appointed half of them in the last two months," says

Shashi B Mal, VP, Personal Computing Division, IBM India.

According to him, the sheer size of the market provides a good opportunity to

do business in a very focussed manner. "The initiatives are not limited to

appointment of channels. We have made products which suit the market demand and

are very competitive in our positioning," he adds.

IBM is also rolling out an enhanced authorized service provider (ASP) program

where it will have 35 to 40 locations to support its resellers and customers. In

the next quarter it is also planning to begin its training initiatives for

channel partners. "We are putting the business infrastructure to educate

our partners," Shashi adds.