Swedish firm Axis to expand in India

BANGALORE, INDIA: Surveillance solutions provider Axis Communications, which set up its first India sales office in Bangalore in 2007, is planning to fortify its operation in the country with a target to penetrate Tier-I and Tier-II cities.

The company intends to reach out to these locations through its various partner programs. Axis’ go-to-market strategy --- a two-tier model would facilitate the India expansion.

“In India if you want to reach out to Tier-I and Tier-II cities, you need to operate through this model (two-tier),” opined Oh Tee Lee, regional director, South Asia Pacific, Axis Communications.

Axis’ sells its products through distributors, resellers and system integrators.

The company has appointed Ingram Micro as its distributor in India. Before setting up its sales office in Bangalore, the company was present in the country through Anixter.

Plans are afoot to expand its portfolio of solutions, Axis said at a press conference here.

India plans

Axis, which has its India operations headquartered in Bangalore, plans to set up offices in Mumbai and Delhi by July.

Without naming any location, the company said that it is working to install traffic surveillance systems in two Indian cities.

Citing non-disclosure terms, Prakash Prabhu, Axis’ India country manager, said that apart from city traffic surveillance systems, the company is also working on two airports projects in the country.

In India, Axis’ main verticals are Retail, Infrastructure, Transportation and Residential projects.

“These verticals provide immense potential for us. We intend to participate in many of them,” said Prabhu.

Retail and Transportation are successful verticals for us. These verticals are also doing well in India, added Lee.

The company would also vie for gated communities and township projects, added Prabhu. He also said that the company’s India operation is growing at 60 per cent.

The company said it will invest in various programs for channel partners. Some of the activities planned by the company are Channel Partner Program for resellers, Application Development Program, Architecture and Engineering Program (for consultants) and Axis Communications Academy.

Earlier in the month, Axis Communications partnered with Bosch Security Systems and Sony Corporation to set up an open forum to develop a standard for the interface of network video products. Specifications like video streaming, device discovery and intelligence metadata would be included in the new standard.

The companies are planning to release the framework of the standard in October 2008.

Sweden-based Axis has offices in 18 countries and operates through partners in more than 70 countries. It is listed in the OMX Nordic Exchange.

The company registered net sales of $247 million in 2007.