Nilgiris: SOHO, government driving IT business

The district of Nilgiris lies in the lap of the scenic Nilgiri mountain ranges in southern India. It falls at the junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Ooty, the queen of hill stations, is a major tourist attraction of this district. Other hill stations include Coonoor and Kotagiri.

Nilgiris, meaning the `Blue mountains,' is one of the world's biosphere hotspots. The name is supposed to be given because of the blue haze enveloping the mountains. Bestowed with immense beauty, it is truly a nature's bounty. It is known for tea and coffee cultivation, essential oils, and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

Peeking into the information technology market of the district in the past few months, one finds that the overall demand for products has been average. A Gunasekaran, CEO, Linear Systems, said, ''The sales have improved in comparison to last month. But due to the small size of the town, there are not many professional colleges to generate demand. There is only one engineering college and 2-3 arts colleges here. Mostly, students move to Chennai, Madurai or Coimbatore for pursuing higher studies, so the sales of laptops and desktops is limited. The demand from the corporate segment is not considerable enough. The prices of hard drives also keep fluctuating. So because of the whole situation, we stock limited items and order only when the need arises.'' According to T Senthil Kumar, CEO, Digitek Computer Services, ''The market has been encouraging to some extent.'' For K Vijayan, CEO, AVR & Co, the market has not been very profitable. ''Owing to the rising prices of products, demands have slightly suffered.''

The potential business segments in the district comprise SOHO, government and the educational segment. In products, both laptops and desktops are sold at par. Vijayan said, ''HP and Dell laptop sell better.'' According to Gunasekaran, ''Both laptops and desktops are sold equally, with Dell being the top-selling brand.

Due to the small size of the town and lack of consolidated vendor relations, dealers play both the roles, ie, sales and services. Gunasekaran said, ''According to the intensity of the demand, we either buy the stock from the sub-distributors or from the Coimbatore market. We make profit by providing a range of services like networking support, computer peripherals and other services. Coonoor and Ooty together make about 23 dealers in the district, and the number will reach 25 by early April.''

The district has a full-fledged IT association by the name of Nilgiri Information Technology Association (NITA). The association is quite organized and holds regular meetings for the dealers. According to Gunasekaran, ``Our association is very active and part of the Confed-ITA. Meetings are held every month. Recently, five of us participated in a meeting held on March 24 in Kumbakonam.''

The dealers are hopeful of improving prospects in the coming times. ''The demands although less in the recent past are set to increase as customers are inquiring more about products and either want new systems or upgrade their existing ones,'' said Vijayan. Gunasekaran is also of the same opinion. ''Atleast 10% growth is expected,'' he said. According to Kumar, ''We are undertaking awareness drives among masses and increasing the availability of all kind of products in our district, so we are expecting good business.''Market Name: Nilgiris
Market Location: Tamil Nadu
Surrounding Markets: Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore
Computer Association: Nilgiri Information Technology Association (NITA)
Prominent Dealers: AVR & Co, Digitek Computer Services, Virgil Computers, Linear Systems, SD Computers
Business Verticals: SOHO, government and education
Number of Active Dealers: 23 (approx)

Interview 1

A Gunasekaran, CEO, Linear Systems

How has the market been in the last 2 months?
The market was dull in the month of February, but the situation improved in March. However, it was still not very profitable because of the wavering demand from the educational segment.

What are the primary growth verticals of Nilgiris?
SOHO and educational segments.

What are your market predictions for this year?
Desktop sales will come down. Sales of laptops and all-in-one PCs will increase. We can expect at least a 10% growth.

How many active dealers operate in the city?
There are approximately 23 dealers combining Ooty and Coonoor.

Interview 2

K Vijayan, CEO, AVR & Co

How has the market been in the last 2 months?
The sales have suffered because the prices have gone up.

What sells more - desktops or laptops?
HP and Dell laptops sell more.

Do you have any computer association in Nilgiris?
Yes, we do have Nilgiri Information Technology Association (NITA). It is well-organized and holds meetings every month.

Interview 3

T Senthil Kumar, CEO, Digitek Computer Services

What are your market predictions for this year?
We are expecting a good amount of business in the coming year as we creating a lot of awareness among masses. Besides, we are making provisions to provide all kind of IT-related products to the customers which were earlier available only in Coimbatore and adjoining areas.

What are the top-selling products in Nilgiris?
HP, Dell and Sony laptops.

How many active dealers operate in the city?
Our association comprises 16 registered dealers.