PCAIT to form a national forum

Delhi based Progressive Channels Association of Information Technology (PCAIT) has raised a need to create a collaboration platform of like-minded IT solution providers and partners with niche domain. To do so, the association intends to form a 'national forum' in bringing all these channel partners on a common platform for synergy-oriented business for pure commercial interest.

The credit for the concept of forming a national forum, which is presently at the conceptual stage, goes entirely to Saket Kapur, secretary, PCAIT. Soon, the association will discuss it with all its EC members, and the national forum is expected to launch in the mid of December, 2012.

Speaking to The DQ Week, V Krishnan, executive secretary, PCAIT informed, "The entire concept of national forum is at an early stage. But broadly, this forum, will work for the betterment of the IT channel community. This forum will debate and discuss the issues related to the IT channel community and seek participation from other channel partners and IT associations."

The association has penned down some of the broad topics which is related to the channel community. Following are the areas for which this national forum will be conducting a healthy discussion:

• IT channel partners have been hearing about phrases like 'out of the box thinking', 'Value addition', 'Solution Selling' from OEMs and principal companies whenever they complain about reducing margins
• IT trade today is commodity business and needs extremely high volumes with wafer thin margins to just survive
• Most of the deals only close by intervention of the principals, who in turn determine the margin a channel partner may get, but the risk of getting the payment is only with the poor partner
• All channel partners today have developed their own niche domain and are currently working within the same.
• Expansion beyond the respective niche domain is a challenge
• Business worldwide is surviving on a synergy