AMD gets closer to SIs with Connect

With communication becoming an integral part of the success of businesses
today, System integrators (SI) also expect a more proactive approach from their
principal. This time around the vendor in question is Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) India. But the vendor decided to lend ears to the constant complaint. In a
move to get better buy in with SIs, AMD India launched the Connect channel
outreach program last quarter.

Sandip Naik, Head-Sales, AMD India said, "Initially there was no direct
interaction with a large section of the SI community that use AMD products,
because we were in touch with only the big partners. We realized the need to
have more feet on the ground using these partners and that is why we launched
Connect program where we give training and certification to partners in smaller
cities. Besides this we have created an interactive portal which gives
information on the latest schemes and product launches to all our channel
partners."

In the past AMD has been criticized by the channel fraternity for not being
very communicative with them. Given the fact that the company has seen a major
management upheaval recently and is facing stiff competition from Intel, it had
to ensure that it took a more bottoms-up approach with reference to its partner
initiatives.

This realization hit home when AMD India started the groundwork for the
Connect and learnt that it was missing out on a huge chunk of partners who were
selling its products but were not part of its official network. Naik informed,
"The data collected from our survey showed major involvement of SIs in reaching
out to the end-customers. It also showed that there are around 3,000 partners
who were selling our products but out of these we were in touch with only 1,000.
There we felt the need to bridge this gap."

Since the launch of Connect three months ago, AMD has been educating and
certifying SIs in 36 cities. Naik mentioned that these workshops are interactive
sessions where partners are encouraged to ask questions about the company and
its products and plans. At the end of it, they are given a certificate. "The
certificate of having attended an AMD workshop boosts the partner's morale,"
added Naik.

AMD was earlier working with three distributors-Rashi Peripherals, Ingram
Micro and Avnet Max-in India to reach out to its customers. But it has now moved
to a more regional approach, and is working closely with its regional
distributors to come up with localized programs in each of these regions.

The company has also signed up Vishwanath Anand, the chess genius, as brand
ambassador and has rolled out the 'Ask Vishy' promotional campaign.