Building Bharat - Chandigarh Chapter

Chandigarh, the common capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, is a mushrooming IT market. The city hosts a robust network of partners and retailers that deals in selling computer hardware and other technology solutions. The city caters to the market demands from Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. However, during the Covid pandemic, the IT channel business saw a drop and then a rapidly rising demand for IT solutions as most enterprises started going digital.

The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) took the digital route to survive the troubled waters of the Covid induced lockdown. Though hard-hitting, the lockdown opened doors for the enterprises to shift from traditional business to digital modes and transform the growth of their businesses in the times to come. Leveraging technology solutions, SMEs optimised their operations, enhanced their efficiencies and productivity, and improved service delivery.

In the present year, the cuty administration of Chandigarh is actively taking steps to promote IT industry. To provide an impetus to the industry, the administration has conceived the Entrepreneur Development Centre in the prospering IT Park to enhance the export of the software export from the city and to assist young professionals in setting up their ventures by providing shell space or space with plug and play facilities. Such a move by the government authorities open up a wide array of opportunities for the IT solution providers like Dell to cater to the rising needs. Also, with this, the partners aligned with such companies get to expand the scope of their channel business.

In an attempt to embrace the rapid develoopments in the IT industry in Chandigarh and opportunities as the market climbs the ladder to post-Covid recovery, CRN India in association with Dell Technologies and Redington organised the fourth edition of Building Bharat conference in Chandigarh on 07th September 2022. The conference witnessed participation from over 50 SMEs in the city.

The expert speaker Md Danish Khan, Lead Pre Sales Channel North India, Dell Technologies, took the stage and shared his invaluable insights on ‘Modernising your IT Infrastructure.’

Danish commenced his address sharing a story about an eagle’s life. He highlighted that “An eagle, going through a mid-life crisis, intentionally rips off its wings, breaks its beak and claws as they get weakened and wait for the body to regrow new and stronger parts. Similarly, an enterprise should leave outdated technology solutions and processes and adopt new-age solutions for effective and efficient operations.”

IT is the backbone empowering every sector in the industry today. Enterprises need to understand that IT infrastructure upgrades are not a cost anymore but a necessity. Today, the part of the organisation where a data centre is established is considered the most productive part.

However, he emphasised that enterprises should adopt IT solutions on need-basis and to ensure that they benefit the most from their investments in establishing a solid IT infrastructure. The IT solutions must be focused to drive value to the organisation.

Further he presented Dell’s offerings and spoke on how the products can be beneficial for the enterprises. He said, “Dell's Live optics help in assessing IT infrastructure and sharing insights to provide real-life data that will help in optimally leveraging one's IT infrastructure. While, our CloudIQ allows organisations to get predictive analysis for their IT infrastructure and helps them to detect anomalies and vulnerabilities beforehand.”

Dell's PowerStore uses a data-centric approach that supports any kind of workload, optimises performance, provides proactive health analysis, and boosts efficiency, he said while showcasing Dell’s storage solutions. In case of other OEMs there is a seperate software licensing feature while with Dell this is not the case. All the required software comes with the Dell's storage solutions, he added.

Elaboarting on Dell's APEX, Danish said, “APEX is a flexible consumption model with integrated services secured through an e-commerce portal. Therefore, it is a new buying experience from Dell. Under APEX, Dell offers more than what is required to the customer but only charges for what is used.”

Rahul Ohri, Channel Manager, Chandigarh, Dell Technologies addressed the theme “Build your Breakthrough - Embrace the future of work”. He said, “Dell's innovations are a breakthrough between the people and the technology. As organisations have moved to hybrid model of working, the demand for better IT infrastructure has risen significantly. Dell offers a huge range of products that enable the employees to work efficiently and effectively from anywhere and successfully deliver while in a hybrid work environment.”

Elanorating on how the Dell’s line of products can be beneficial for enterprises, he said, “Our offerings come with zero touch deployment, comprehensive security, unified management, and predictive support. Why Dell? Simply because we offer innovative and flexible solutions, intelligent and secure technologies, and infrastructure which is ready to be leveraged for bridging remote connections.”

The representatives from the participating SMEs also shared their invaluable inputs about the present-day scenario of channel business in Chandigarh and how solution providers like Dell are transforming the business in tier 2 & tier 3 cities in the country. Kapil Verma, Manager Operations, IE Impact Microsoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mohali said that IE Impact Microsoft Solutions is already using Dell’s hardware and computers. The best part is Dell offers such a wide range of products that there is something for every size and type of customer. Also, the services provided by Dell have been prompt and supportive enough.

Madhuri Gupta, Founder, International Test Prep opened up saying that “Dell offers competent technology solutions that are user friendly, and allows to cut down errors. The company offers products that caters to a wide range of customers. Through conferences like Building Bharat, Dell is connecting with the market and allowing customers to explore more of its solutions based on their requirements. I am looking forward to explore more on Dell’s storage solutions and CloudIQ.”