First IT Forum on high skies

First IT Forum, the apex body of computer traders in the city of Chandigarh, believes in leading from the front and always takes the responsibility to address various problems faced not only by the IT dealers in the city but also the distributors.

The association conducts general body meetings at regular intervals wherein the problems of the local IT market are discussed at length and they always try to resolve the issues at their own level.
Sanjeev Walia, president, First IT Forum, said, "As the representatives of the association, we address the problems of the local channel partners, dealers, as well as distributors. We have also realized in the last few years that many a times vendors make us fool by sending their staff and enticing us with lucrative schemes. But at the end of the day, we get nothing but false promises. So, as an association, we take up these issues and highlight it nationally through various media."

Highlighting some of the incidents that have put a dent on the reputation of the local IT market, Walia said, "What we are witnessing in the market today is that many a times, short-time dealers venture into IT business, sell their products at a cheaper price, and then vanish from market overnight. We take up such cases at the association level and in coordination with the distributors, we try to ensure that no such player is there in the market."
"If any such incident happens, then it is a complete loss for the whole market. Recently, a case has also been registered in the city where a dealer tried to escape from the market after cheating other dealers and distributors. But somehow we managed to catch hold of him and now he is behind the bars," added Walia.

In an effort to bridge the gap between dealers, distributors, and vendors, Walia pointed out that it is understandable that mainly due to large scale competition and various other factors, dealers as well as distributors are facing a lot of hardships in making their business successful. Here, the association plays an integral role of a solution provider.

The association also wants the distributors to trust the apex body and has even committed to stand by them, whenever and wherever required. While urging the distributors to support the association, Walia, asserted, "Distributors are the link between us and the vendors, and not the gap. We want them to keep the vendors informed about our problems like back-ends, service issues, excess billing, etc. Besides, we also request them to keep the prices uniform. We just want the distributors to support us."

Moreover, the association has also put a request with distributors to work with limited partners and avoid those ‘fly-by-night' operators', so that the industry make healthy profits. The distributors can work on contract with certain partners exclusively. Besides, it has also urged the distributors to share the vendors' DOA and service policies in order to maintain total transparency in the business.
Meanwhile, the association is also planning to do an exhibition this year. Though the dates are not yet finalized, it has already formed a committee which is working day-and-night to make this happen soon.