Andhra's next IT hub

Vizag being a tier-2 city is running on new engines of growth-IT and ITeS.
The biggest segments in the region are government and education, and these are
also the prime segments that have been giving most of the business to the
channel community.

Commenting on the same, Anand Narla, CEO, Pioneer Marketing Corporation and
Ex-President, Vishakha Infotech Dealers Welfare Association said, “Vizag IT
business is doing very well and right now the government, education, SOHO, SMB
and retail are the only segments that are driving the industry. Vizag is
witnessing a sale of 20,000 PCs per month and the market is growing by 20 to 30
percent every month and 30 to 40 percent annually. ”

60 percent of the IT business in Vizag caters to the education, government
and SOHO segments, which comprise the only scope of business opportunity for the
channel fraternity. CH Surendra, CEO, CA&S Solutions is confident about the way
Vizag market is growing. “Vizag is likely to emerge as one of the fastest
growing IT market for software development. The market was growing at a rate of
40 percent, but due to the global recession in the last few months, the market
has slightly come down. Dealers in Vizag should start taking more initiatives
like coming up with road shows and other marketing activities. They should also
adopt reasonable pricing strategy for all their products. It will also attract
more customers which will indirectly help the IT business market of Vizag to
grow.”

Brand awareness is catching up fast in the region and all the major brands
are really doing well.

“HP, Lenovo, Dell and HCL are the brands that are doing good business in
here. Especially, HP enjoys more coverage as compared to others, because of its
reputation in the market, potential, good retail and commercial team, strong
manpower and support services,” pointed out Suresh Kumar, Director of Kolla
Innovative Infotech.

Predicting the future growth of the Vizag market, Kumar said, “Vizag seems to
have a promising future in terms of IT business. It is doing well and we are
expecting it to grow more in the coming times. It is going to be one of the next
IT hub in Andhra Pradesh.”

Q. How has been the market been in the last two years? With the exception for the last couple of months, there has been a steady growth in the market for the last two years. The growth is primarily in SMB, IT/ITeS and r etail segments. The market saw up to 30 percent growth in SMB and 25 percent growth in retail. Suresh Kumar Director Kolla Innovative Infotech Q. Who are the major vendors and players in the IT market there? Which segment accounts for the majority of the customers? HP is the major player, followed by Lenovo. Dell has started well with its channel initiatives. SMB and government sector accounts for majority of the business followed by retail. Q. What are the major segments present in the market? Government, education, SOHO, retail, SMB, corporate sector. At present retail and SMB are doing well in the market. Q. What steps are being taken for combating the recession? We have reduced our stocking level to minimum. That apart we are focusing on limited models in stock and trying to get other models keeping back-to-back from distributors. Our concentration on service and upgradation revenue has increased to maintain our profitability. Q. How do you foresee Vizag market in the near future? We see Vizag as one of the emerging markets and we expect it to grow more in the near future. It is hopefully going to be the next IT hub next of Andhra Pradesh.