"3Com will make huge impact in the marketplace"

3Com launched high speed LAN Switches in Singapore recently. Chris Stephens,

the 3Com's segment marketing manager of business network for the Asia Pacific

region is responsible for developing customer and channel sales for 3Com's range

of switching, wireless, and telephony solutions. In an interview with Sudesh

Prasad of Voice & Data, Chris talks about the latest range of LAN switching

products and discusses the overall market and channel strategy of 3Com in India.

What impact would the present line of products have on the market?



The whole market is growing and 3Com has been thinking of accelerating its
growth. What we needed was to have a complete product range and a strong price

performance and that is what we have been addressing with the current range of

products. We have completely refreshed our product range, which will make a huge

impact in the marketplace. 3Com is extremely well placed and we are poised for a

rapid growth.

There is a perception that 3Com's products are not scalable, any views on

that?

No that is not true. In fact, with the new range of products, one can build

the entire network. The SuperStack 3 Switch 4400's simple stacking architecture

increases workgroup capacity when needed and allows high-speed trunks between

the workgroup and other network resources.

What is 3Com's channel strategy in India?

We have a well-thought channel strategy in place. Channels are the lifeblood

for us, adding value at each level of partnership. Smaller channels or bronze

partners, look at the transaction-based sales. What we provide them with, is

constant flow of product information and also provide online training on new

technology products and promotions. The silver and gold partners deal with high

value solution, project-based solution and there we provide them with account

management. We organize training events where they can come and get hands-on

training. They get a broader knowledge on how to build a total solution rather

than a transaction-based bronze partner. We actually give them a different level

of support.

We are educating the channel about benefits of new technology. We are at an

inflection point now, a period where people get to know the technology and

suddenly everyone starts buying.

What is the impact of the slowdown in the marketplace on 3Com?

If you look at the solutions we are bringing to the market, I don't think any

of these product ranges are effected at all. In fact, the market condition could

well favor us, because there is going to be a trend towards price performance.

What is the USP of your latest range of products and how does it compare with

your competitors?

First, all these products are feature-rich. These are not simplistic

solutions. They are quite complex solutions in terms of what services they

deliver to the customers. They are intelligent and they manage traffic more

efficiently. Secondly, although these are very sophisticated solutions, they are

also extremely easy to use. Our products are very simple, work out of the box,

and are web-managed. Thirdly the price performance where we are delivering a lot

of business value and reducing the total cost of ownership.