The DQ Week Exclusive: WD to roll out ‘myWD’ channel program in India

In a bid to enhance the technology awareness and profitability of its channel partners in the market, Western Digital plans to organize a channel program called ‘myWD' in India by this August - September. "We have already introduced this channel program in the US and we will be launching this new partner program in the mid of this year in India. This program will target in enhancing the partners' awareness on the company's technology and products ranging from hard drives to its line of small business storage appliances. ‘myWD' will be replacing the company's previous ‘selectWD' program, which did not have the capacity to reach all the channel partners who purchase Western Digital products," said Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Director (Sales) for South Asia, Middle East and Africa, WD.

However, according to WD, the new ‘myWD' channel program will follow the structure of the ‘selectWD' in offering special incentives based on the points gained on the sales of WD products. "Also, our channel partners would be trained on to improve the business with an enhanced go-to-market strategy for all the products," said Saifuddin. Currently, there are about 4500 channel partners with the Western Digital.

Speaking further about the significance of channel partners for WD's business growth, Saifuddin said, "Our channel partners contribute to about 85 percent as compared to that of 15 percent from LFRs for the overall growth our distribution business. Hence, we would be increasing our channel base by about 20-25 percent by the end of this year." He also added that the company would be primarily focusing on the B, C, and D-Class cities in India.