Opportunities for IT Channels

Dr Archana Vermaa

Sabrina Hall, Director, Worldwide Channel, Business Development, Lexmark, talks about the opportunities that IT Channel Partners have in her organisation in this interaction 

Sabrina Hall, Global Channel Director, Lexmark

Some details about your organisation

We are present in 170 countries; we have produced 1 million devices and have 6500 partners around the world. We’re focused on developing more solutions and products and we want to develop our channels further.

You have introduced Cloud-based print management system. Can you explain it?

There is a cloud connector integrator in our new printers. Is enables the user to custom-manage the printing process. e printer can has a remote-controlled repair system integrated into it. There are temperature sensors connected to the printer and there is also a system of gaining predictive analytics in these new printers. We have our own R&D unit and we continue to innovate new-age technological solutions. In future we may forage into IoT-connected printers and other devices.

Our products are applicable in heavy-duty large enterprise environment and we have successfully installed these printers in several industrial sectors. We also install our products in the government organisations in India. We have our own manufacturing unit and based on the feedback we get from our marketing partners; we evolve the technology of our products.

Can you describe your Channel Partnership Programme?

We’re constantly making efforts to develop our channel Partners, redistributors and other marketing partners. We’re making investment into their development. We believe in collateral development. They get a share in the revenue coming from the sales. We listen to their feedback seriously and try to constantly learn

from and understand what we need to change. We try to understand their challenges and attempt to solve them. Our channel model is of independent partners, who can take decisions independently based on the on-the-ground situation. We work towards making our channel partner successful. We focus on enhancing their capabilities. Based on their feedback, we provide them with right products and help them to amplify their serviceability. The success of our partners is our success. We provide toolkits to our redistributors. We invest in distribution chain to make it stronger.

How do you visualise your Channel Partnersip Programme in today's context?

We work closely with our marketing partners to understand the evolving markets. Last year, the market was flat. However, because of the investment and understanding of the ground situation we focused on we managed to grow in double digit in a flat market environment in several regions. We aim to help our channel partners to help the SMBs grow in their business goals. We capture dormant distributors and resellers account try to revitalise them. We believe that the growth of the SMBs is our growth. We aim to not only grow our sales in this year, but also achieve a growth in the number of our channel partners. We keep the price range low to compete in a fat market.