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Bharat Goenka, Managing Director, Tally solutions talks about how the SMB software market has evolved and the current trends. He shares his views on opportunities for channel partners and the training the Tally provides.
How have you seen the evolution of technology adoption amongst Indian SMBs, and how has the role of the channel partner community changed?
Twenty five years ago, people did not understand technology, and we had to explain to them the benefits of technology. But ten years ago, people were aware of the benefits of technology; however this does not mean that they were proactively attempting to solve business problems with technology. Understanding the benefits is one thing, but knowing that technology can be a solution in your business is another. That is where the advantage of a knowledgeable partner comes in.
From the customer’s perspective, the knowledgeable partner is a technology supplier who helps them understand how, why and what parts of technology are relevant to their (the customers’) business. The technology landscape is an explosive landscape; for any business, the relevant components (applicable technology) need to be identified, which a business owner is unlikely to be able to do, since he / she is an expert in the business, and not necessarily in the technology space.
How does Tally approach customer education?
Traditionally we have always been the friendly advisor to the businesses, helping them understand why technology would be good for them – what parts of it would be good for them, and what parts not (sometimes over-automation creates more problems than automation solves). We have been fortunate to have a partner ecosystem that has resonated with this sentiment. Therefore they have become the friendly business advisor to the customers at large.
Trends in the Indian SMB software market
There is a technology landscape trend which is bringing mobiles and tablets into mainstream, which SMEs are not yet able to take advantage of. It is not easy to understand how to bring business software onto those devices.
From the software adoption perspective, in some ways many things have not changed; people still require guidance on what software should be used, where it needs to be used, and why; also, what should not be used. That part of the journey continues.
Major bottlenecks for technology adoption in Indian SMBs
The bottlenecks are around the (less) number of people who can engage with customers effectively. Talking as Tally on the software adoption in general, the number of people who are willing to spend time with SMBs to ensure that they have effective adoption is the biggest bottleneck in any of the emerging markets. Therefore, this is also an opportunity for people who do that well.
How can channel partners best harness current SMB opportunities ?
The IT channel partner ecosystem was born in the boom time of hardware. Therefore, the channel partners were groomed in how hardware can be taken to the customer. When the customers started becoming educated and knowledgeable, the channel partners started facing massive challenges. Partners had to add value on top of hardware. Those who recognized that and did that early became early successes. The challenge really was making the change in the mindset – ‘how do I shift from a box environment of hardware to an engagement environment of software’. Once the transition is made, it is a very attractive environment for the channel partners.
Training channel partners
In the last five years, we have been working with our partners to get them to first understand fundamental principles of engagement. These principles are product agnostic – irrespective of whether you are selling a printer or Tally software, you have to know what an engagement based business means; and because of these engagements, you not only attract but also retain customers in a continuous cycle. We have been investing deeply in activities to help partners here.
Once you have understood the methodology for doing business, there is Tally specific training. This training empowers and enables our channels on Tally – which has diverse potential customers – to be able to take them to the market.
Where do you see Tally in the next two – five years?
Our products and services have been oriented towards the upper end of the small and lower end of the middle in the SMB space. That’s been our sweet spot. In the coming years, we will be bringing in technologies that are relevant to the lower end of the pyramid – the small in the ‘small’ of the SMB, so to say. We will also be bringing in products relevant to the upper end of the segment. From an audience perspective, that is the spread we will be addressing. This is how we are looking at Tally being able to bring its deeper understanding of handling diversity of customer base and making technologies that are relevant to each group such that their business grows.
