Play it safe!

As I write this, one of the biggest scams in the history of IT industry is
unfolding. The drama which started with World Bank banning Satyam for eight
years culminated when its founder Ramalinga Raju quit and in his letter revealed
how the company books had been cooked and that the scam stood at something
around Rs 7,000 crore.

This is perhaps the biggest scam that Indian corporate sector has witnessed
and questions are flying thick and fast as to how such a big company could get
away with this kind of gross misuse of public funds. As the Indian corporate
sector comes to terms with this rattling development, what is scary is the how
easily a company of this magnitude which has always been in the public eye could
pull this off. It also opens a Pandora's box about how it is all so relatively
easy. If a big company like Satyam can succumb to such pressure the
possibilities of what can happen in a community like the IT channel where
margins are thin and the pressure to make profits enormous are mind boggling.

So it is any wonder that as far as the IT channel partner ecosystem is
concerned, the alarm bells are out in full and ringing loudly. The market in
western part of the country which many were considered as insulated against the
scams is the latest to fall victim to a scam. The southern community, especially
in Chennai and Bengaluru are trying to come to terms with the major scams where
partners have fled with Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 4 crore respectively. Small markets
like Tirunelveli are the latest to have been added to the list.

Delhi market witnessed two incidents last year but has been a bit quite since
then. Now the Mumbai market is buzzing with news that a partner has absconded
with Rs 2.5 crore that he owes to almost 25 partners. This is what is happening
with the channel partners and my guess is that there are many out there who are
stuck in a similar situation but are keeping quite hoping that things will
change quickly and they would be able to recover some amount that is stuck in
the market.

Markets are also rife with rumors that these might be small figures that are
being bandied about. These are obviously being fueled by the fact that most
national distributor representatives or even senior officials for that matter
are unwilling to comment about their market exposure at this time. When
questioned most either choose not to comment or simply say that they are better
off than the big two.

shivangi yadav

So what does a normal channel partner do in such times? Go back to the basics
and play it safe. These are not the days when someone else can look at the
nitty-gritty while you look at the bigger picture. You have to put in place a
mechanism to monitor who are you doing business with. And work with people who
are broadly in line with your business philosophy. Avoid quick cash schemes and
be on guard when someone offers to sell you products at discounted rates. In
case you hear of any such case, inform your association and also others across
the country so that the risk for the rest of the people is minimized. And hope
that the good turn that all of us are anticipating comes sooner rather than
later.

(shivangiy@cybermedia.co.in)