With pomp and grandeur, VARIndia organized its fourth Star Nite Award 2005 at Hotel Eros (ParkRoyal) InterContinental, Nehru Place, New Delhi. It was attended by 650 people from the entire Indian IT fraternity. On this occasion, more than 65 awards were presented to the top performers of the IT industry in various categories.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Guest, Dr. N. Vijayaditya, Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC), urged the Information Technology (IT) industry to further bring down the cost of Personal computers and at the same time develop Laptop computers below Rs.10,000/-, as in the case of Desktop computers.
He said that the development of laptop below Rs.10K will help students and research scholars to work better.
He also urged the IT industry to develop appliances, which can be used in rural India. The biggest problem of installing computers in villages was irregular power supply. He urged the industry to develop personal computers, which can have their own solar-powered backup systems.
He said that a citizen-focussed approach along with Public Private Partnership (PPP) can only provide an integrated platform for achieving the true vision of e-Governance in the country. The government, on its part, can only provide the basic infrastructure, including Internet, a window facilitation centre and last leg connectivity for implementation of e-governance, but PPP is the major key factor for providing totally transparent services to the public, he added.
He said that for the successful implementation of the National e-Governance Action Plan (NEGP), the role of the private sector is equally important. The government services like birth and death certificates, payment of various bills, taxes, online submission of applications, land and revenue records can be accessed from a small STD booth or photocopying shop. He said that the Government was committed for implementing e-governance till the last mile. For providing connectivity to remote areas, the government has planned to use wireless and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX) technology.
The highlight of the awards was that HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd. received awards in the Best Product categories – PC International Brand, Notebook, Storage Solution, Server, Inkjet Printer, Laser Jet, CLJ, AIO, MFD, Scanner, etc. Canon India received awards as the Best Imaging Solution company and for the Best Digital Camera. Similarly, HCL Infosystems bagged the award for the Best PC Indian Brand.
Another major vendor, Samsung India, received awards in various product categories, including CRT, TFT, Large Format Display, OMS, the Best HDD (Pata), etc. The keyboard and mouse major, Logitech Electronics India, won Best awards in the categories of Cordless Mouse, Keyboard (Membrane), Gaming Hardware, etc. While the Chennai-based TVS Electronics Ltd. received awards for the best Keyboard (Mechanical) and DMP, another Chenni-based company, HCL Peripherals, received the award for the ThinClient Technology Provider.
And, Microsoft India received awards for Best Laptop Mouse, Gaming Software and Software Suite for SMBs.
Intel once again became the undisputed leader to win the Best Processor and Motherboard awards. Two Bangalore-based companies, Epson India and APC India, received awards as the Best Projector and Best Power Management Solutions companies, respectively.
In the networking category, D-Link received the award as the Best Networking Vendor and Cisco Systems received the award as the Best Networking Solutions Company.
In the Best Memory Module category, Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd. received the award. In the Technology Management space, Tivoli (Ibm Global Services India) received the award as the Best Technology Management Solutions company. SAP India Pvt. Ltd. bagged the award as the Best ERP Solution company. Similarly, Oracle was the winner of the award in the Best Database Management S/W category. And, eSys Information Technologies Limited was adjudged as the fastest growing distribution company in India.
There were six awards for the Most-Trusted Company category, and the winners were Cisco, Samsung, EMC, SES, Trend Micro and Emerson. And, five awards for the best network integration were given to five enterprises from five metros. When TelExcell Information Systems Ltd. received the award for the city of Delhi, Frontier Business Systems Pvt. Ltd. received it for Bangalore. And, Leading Edge Technology & Consultants (P) Ltd., Kay Bee Infotech and Fourth Dimensions Technologies Pvt. Ltd. received the same award for Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, respectively.
And, two VARIndia user choice awards had gone to BPE and Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd. for UPS and USB, respectably. Besides these, thirteen awards were given to the resellers from different cities for their outstanding performance. While vendors like HP, Canon, APC, Samsung, Trend Micro, Hughes DiRECWAY, SES, eSys, TelExcell and BPE put up stalls to demonstrate new technologies and products, HP, Hughes DiRECWAY, Samsung and SAP gave presentations on their respective solutions.
The partners for bringing about this grand event were HP, Samsung, Canon, EMC, SES, Hughes DiRECWAY, Microsoft, APC, Intel, SAP, TVS-E, Trend Micro, eSys and SES Technologies.
While Mr. Deepak Sahu, President, VARIndia, welcomed the guests and Mr. Sanjeev Mahapatra, Publisher, VARIndia, gave a vote of thanks, Mr. Sanjay Mohapatra, Editor, VARIndia, commended the responsiveness of the readers of VARIndia magazine. Finally, the event concluded with a happy note with Canon giving away a printer based on the lucky draw from the shuffled visiting cards of the attendees.
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************** VARIndia Star Nite Award 2005 **************
VARIndia Star Nite Award 2005 finalists were based on a number of criteria, including product leadership, market share, pre- and post-sales support, product availability, pricing, channel engagement, etc.
$. Desktops.
HP lead the pack in the PC category – international brand – to win the VARIndia Star Nite Award 2005. It scored over others in almost all the parameters. The second contender HCL challenged HP very closely on all the parameters. In this race, IBM stood third.
Ranking
1. HP
2. HCL
3. IBM
$. Notebooks.
A new era for mobile computing has begun. Prices have come crashing down for notebooks. Again, HP has remained the channels\’ favourite and stood at the top. Channel players across the country reposed their confidence in IBM and Acer, which stood second and third, respectively. More and more players are entering this segment, resulting in a large number of new models. HCL sweated hard to push the Toshiba brand, which stood at the fourth position. Acer opened retail stores across the country. It also became the first vendor to break the price barrier with sub-Rs.38,000 notebooks.
Ranking
1. HP
2. IBM
3. Acer
4. Toshiba
$. Storage Solutions.
Terms like NAS, SAN and CAS are no more technical terms these days because the requirement of storage is so high that people often talk about storage. In this scenario, HP again stood high with EMC and IBM following the leader in the second and third positions.
Ranking
1. HP
2. EMC
3. IBM
$. Intel Servers.
HP again captured the top slot in Price Competitiveness, Pre-Sales and Marketing Support. The competition was mainly between HP and IBM. IBM continued to be the most sought- after premier server brand, but as far as Intel-based servers are concerned, HP won the race. HCL Infosystems was appreciated for its capability.
Ranking
1. HP
2. IBM
3. HCL
$. Inkjet Printers.
It seems to be a team game for HP as it lifted the VARIndia trophy for the consecutive year, leaving way behind its major competitors by a huge difference. The Inkjet printer price has gone down drastically as the Laser and Multi Functional Printers moved up. Vendors have smartly bundled inkjets with PCs and positioned it in the SoHo and Home market. As pricing is a major factor in this segment, Resellers voted Epson as Price Competitive comparatively to other players. Most channel partners prefer Canon when it comes to technology.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Canon
3. Epson
$. Laser Printers
The laser market is speeding past the Inkjet market. SMB and SoHo segments are too quick to adjust to the change. HP emerged as the leader in this segment to have the honour of holding the VARIndia Award. Resellers preferred HP for Availability, Product Quality and Reliability and Training. Samsung stood behind HP with leading scores for Price Competitiveness, Product Availability and Post-Sales Support.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Samsung
3. Canon
$. Colour Laser Printer
As office documents are being preferred with bright colour these days; colour printing has become one of the drivers in the laser printer category. The vendors who have done an excellent job in this category include HP, Canon, Xerox, Samsung, Epson, etc.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Canon
3. Samsung
$. AIO (Inkjet).
In the AIO space again HP became the number-one vendor, as in terms of volume sales and availability of product its credibility is very high. AIOs have become affordable. These are available from Rs.4K. Since AIOs carry four-five functionalities, including fax, scan, print and copy, it is moving into the space of SoHo, Home and even the small enterprises which are first in the use of printers. In this race, apart from HP, companies like Epson, Canon and Samsung became the dominant players.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Canon
3. Epson
$. MFD (Laser).
HP came out with flying colours ahead of its competitors in the MFD (Multi Functional Devices) category .The vendors are capitalizing on the vast demand of MFDs in the small and medium business segment. They are realizing the need of cutting cost of these devices to cater to these segments. HP has remained the favourite in brand equity and easy availability of consumables. Samsung as a strong contender was given warm applause by the channel in Profitability and Margin, Pre-Sales and Marketing Support.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Canon
3. Samsung
$. Scanners.
It is HP once again which scored over the competitors like Umax and Canon. HP won over Post- Sales Support, Product Pricing and Availability. The market trend is that the entry-level scanners are on the verge of extinction as more and more people are going for MFDs and digital cameras. An entry-level MFD is slightly higher in price than a scanner. So, it is considered advisable to buy MFDs.
Ranking
1. HP
2. Umax
3. Canon
$. Best Imaging Solution Company.
Canon India has emerged as the leading imaging solution company with end-to-end products imaging, printing market and scanning. The company received generous support from the channel in a variety of parameters, including Product Availability, Post-Sales Support, Training and Frequency of Interaction with Resellers. Others, however, lacked something or the other.
Ranking
1. Canon
2. Samsung
3. HP
$. Digital Cameras.
Digital cameras have flooded the market with a wide variety of ranges. It seems today that the traditional analog photography is fading away. The digital photography segment has grown exponentially during the last year. Canon India has revolutionized the Digicam market in India. The company has made the product available and affordable to the masses through Canon DigiClick Zones or photo retail stores. Kodak was the strong contender, but failed to match Canon in channel engagement. Canon came out strongly in respect of handling resellers\’ issues. Another big player which is catching up is HP.
Ranking
1. Canon
2. Kodak
3. HP
$. TFT LCD.
It is only in recent times that TFT and Large Format monitors are seen capturing the display market at a very fast pace stepping over the shoulders of CRT monitors. Although TFT monitors come with a higher price tag compared to that of its counterparts, from the product pricing perspective, it is coming down and fitting into the budget of the customers. In addition to that, it has become a matter of convenience and saving space on the desktops. Samsung has once again established its footprints in this segment. It lifted the VARIndia Trophy backed by channels support, Product Availability, Pre- & Post-Sales Support, Certification & Training, Frequency of Interaction and Vote Factor. LG, though it has stood at number-two position, is really giving a tough time to Samsung. Its asset is its regional distribution model. Since the manufacturing cost difference between 15- and 17-inch LCD monitors is marginal, more vendors are moving to 17-inch. Philips too does stand far behind as the channel wholeheartedly supported it for Timely Payment of Rebates and wonderful schemes.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. LG
3. Philips
$. CRT Monitors.
Samsung once again topped the list against neck-and-neck competition in this category from its rival LG. The channel appreciated LG India for Product Availability and Post-Sales Support and thus backed the company to be the runner-up in this category. Philips stood at third position. CRT monitors are considered an ageing category. Worldwide, PC and the monitor makers are moving to LCD displays. A recent study in China shows that production of LCDs has exceeded CRTs. In India, a consolidation in favour of high-end CRTs can be seen. Flat-panel CRTs are the new favourite amongst vendors. BenQ, Samsung and LG are focussing on this sub-category aggressively. Sony and ViewSonic have made an exit from this category to concentrate on LCDs.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. LG
3. Philips
$. TFT Monitors.
The monitor industry underwent a sea change in the past year. On the one hand, there was a shift from the CRT to TFT monitors. On the other hand, there was a preference for larger screen sizes, from 15- to 17-inch and above in theTFT monitor category. The TFT monitors come with a higher price tag compared to their CRT counterparts and still manage to sell like hot cakes. Samsung once again acquired stronghold in this segment. It raised the VARIndia Trophy backed by channels\’ support in – Product Availability, Pre- & Post-Sales Support, Certification & Training, Frequency of Interaction, etc. Again, LG lagged behind with a thin margin. Since the manufacturing cost difference between 15- and 17-inch LCD monitors is marginal, more vendors are moving to 17-inch. Philips too did not lack far behind as the channel wholeheartedly supported it for Timely Payment of Rebates.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. LG
3. Philips
$. LFD Monitors.
Large format Monitors are in demand today because of convergence and strong growth in PC or Online gamers. Samsung took the honour of being awarded the leader in this segment. The channel fully supported the company in Product Availability and Pre- & Post-Sales Support. LG performed well in handling resellers\’ issues and frequency of interaction. Philips, as always, was channel\’s all-time favourite in Timely Payment of schemes.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. LG
3. Philips
$. Hard Disk Drives.
Samsung emerged as a clear winner and most eligible company to lift the VARIndia Trophy. It gained bulk of the support in two key parameters of product quality, reliability and handling resellers\’ issues to be the leader of the market. Seagate was pretty impressive in product quality. It lagged marginally in other parameters making itself next to Samsung. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) led in many parameters and yet was unable to emerge as a leading brand because of its relatively smaller base of customers to service.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. Seagate
3. WDC
$. Key Board (Membrane).
The Input device major Logitech is all set to rule the market, year after year. It continues to be the undisputed leader in this segment. The channel seems to be quite happy for the company as it supported Logitech in most of the parameters – Certifications & Training, Timely Payment of Rebates, Respect Shown to the Resellers, Frequency of Interaction with the Resellers and Handling of Resellers\’ Issues. Samsung became the first runner-up in the rally. TVS got good response in Pre-Sales and Marketing Support. Input devices nowadays are getting sportier and flashier than ever before. The new trends influencing the input devices market this year have been a preference for cordless technology and optical sensors.
Ranking
1. Logitech
2. Samsung
3. TVS-E
$. Cordless Mouse
Today, technology has crossed all barriers and the good old mechanical “chuha” is already giving way to the wireless one. By putting a tiny radio transmitter into the mouse, the wireless optical mouse unshackles the device from the PC. You can use it as much as you like, a TV remote. In this segment too, Logitech was a clear-cut winner, leading the way in all its parameters – Availability, Timely Payment of Rebates, Frequency of Interaction with the Resellers, Handling of Resellers\’ Issues, etc. Microsoft was voted second by the channel for Product Quality & Reliability, but lacked in price competitiveness. Samsung followed next for Product Availability, but lacked in Product Quality.
Ranking
1. Logitech
2. Microsoft
3. Samsung
$. Key Board (Mechanical).
TVS Electronics lifted the VARIndia trophy, while the channel welcomed this honour with a loud applause. TVS-E is the only company in India that does laser etching of the alphabets on its keyboard. This ensures that the characters on the key caps stay throughout the life of the keyboard. More than 90 per cent of keyboard market in India is membrane. TVS-E is the market leader in the mechanical segment with more than 50-per cent market share. The channel supported TVS in most of the parameters – Timely Payment of Rebates, Frequency of Interaction with the Resellers and Handling of Resellers\’ Issues and Product Quality & Reliability.
Winner
TVS-E
$. Dot Matrix Printers.
TVS-E, the Chennai-based leading manufacturer, has scored ahead of others in majority of the parameters. TVS-E has aggressively targeted small cities to ensure its availability of products. It has also undertaken a series of activities in small cities enrolling new partners. Currently, both WeP Peripherals and Epson are expanding their channel networks in Class B&C towns. With a sustained push, this perception may undergo some change in favour of these vendors. The performance of WeP Peripherals is worth a mention here. All the three vendors have a good channel following in the South, West and North. However, in the East, WeP has the most satisfied channel followers than TVS-E and Epson.
Ranking
1. TVS-E
2. WeP
3. Epson
$. Laptop Mouse.
Microsoft is one of the pioneers of Notebook mice. Whenever it appears to be the end of innovation with peripherals, Microsoft always has something unique to offer. Whether the feature is practical or not is not the question, but continuous motivation on Microsoft\’s part to deliver something new with almost every product is exceptional. Today, numerous notebook mice are saturating the market, but the main problem that plagues majority of them is their size. We can possibly understand the manufacturer\’s desire to make the mice portable considering that they will be used with notebook computers, but they are fairly annoying with larger sized hands. Microsoft was the clear winner in this category .The channel showed all respect for the company in most of the parameters. Logitech marginally lagged behind with the channel\’s support in Product Quality & Reliability and Product Availability. iBall stood third with only price competitiveness in its kitty.
Ranking
1. Microsoft
2. Logitech
3. iBall
$. Gaming Software.
According to Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the worldwide market for video game software in 2005 was over $15 billion and is expected to double to $30 billion by 2011. This represents a huge opportunity for investors, developers, publishers, distributors, retailers and suppliers. Microsoft being the grand daddy in this segment was honoured with the VARIndia Trophy in this category with no near competitor.
Winner
Microsoft
$. Projector .
The projector market space is one of the fastest growing segments in the technology industry today. Prices on every technology, from plasma, DLP and LCD monitors with front to rear projections have come down. This has seen an increase in the sales volumes of the projectors. India being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is obvious that the country cannot remain untouched by this euphoria in the projector scenario. Epson was the flag-bearer in this category, which marched ahead with the support of its channel to grab the VARIndia Trophy. inFocus stood second with a very marginal difference. Acer was ranked third.
Ranking
1. Epson
2. inFocus
3. Acer
$. Memory Module.
Simmtronics Semiconductors emerged to be the leader in the memory module business in the Indian market in different parameters, including Availability, Timely Payment of Schemes, Frequency of Interaction with the Resellers and Handling of Resellers\’ Issues. According to a company source, Simmtronics Semiconductors is committed to expand its brand name in the Indian market as India is a potential market and expected to go up in the near future. Next in the rally was Kingmax, followed by Kingston.
Ranking
1. Simmtronics
2. Kingmax
3. Kingston
$. ERP
ERP has been a buzzword since the 1990s, but it was being marketed with a high price tag and longer implementation time. Today, things have changed. ERP has arrived with its second avatar with price and feature scalable and modular and takes less time for implementation. SAP being the leader has taken the initiative to make this happen followed by Oracle and Ramco systems.
Ranking
1. SAP
2. Oracle
3. Ramco Systems
Database Software Topping in six parameters, Oracle emerged as the clear winner in this category. It did particularly well in Vote Factor, Product Quality, Product Availability, Price Competitiveness and Pre- & Post-Sales Support. Next was Microsoft, followed by IBM.
Ranking
1. Oracle
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
$. OMS Drives
Samsung was crowned the emperor of the OMS Drives. Samsung rules this category because of high channel engagement, availability, affordability and support. The leader was followed by LG and Sony.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. LG
3. Sony
$. Gaming Hardware
The three giants in the gaming hardware industry are Logitech, Microsoft and Sony. All have either recently launched their latest-generation gaming consoles or are planning their release. The new consoles feature well-defined graphics, speedy performance and enhanced audio. Microsoft\’s XboX 360, that was launched late in 2005, was the most advanced console on the market. Sony\’s PS3 console, due to be launched later in 2006 or early 2007, is projected to be technically more advanced than the XboX 360. Logitech came out as the winner in a fierce battle against its competitors. The channel stood as the lethal weapon for the company favouring Logitech in Handling of Resellers\’ Issues, Price Competitiveness and Post-Sales Support.
Ranking
1. Logitech
2. Microsoft
3. Sony
$. Hard Disk Drives
Samsung emerged as a winner to lift the VARIndia Trophy. It got bulk of the support in two key parameters of Product Availability, Product Quality, Reliability and handling Resellers\’ Issues. Seagate was pretty impressive in Product Availability and Quality. It lagged marginally in other parameters, making it stand next to Samsung. Western Digital Corporation (WDC), which leads in many parameters, was unable to evolve as a leading brand. Seagate holds a wide range of products in its kitty, starting from an array of new products targeting applications ranging from MP3 players to DVRs, consumer electronics, etc.
Ranking
1. Samsung
2. Seagate
3. WDC
$. Key Board and Mouse
The Input device major, Logitech is all set to rule the market year after year. It continues to be the undisputed leader in this segment. The channel seems to be quite happy with the company as it supported Logitech for its excellence in most of the parameters – Certifications & Training, Timely Payment of Rebates, Respect Shown to the Resellers, Frequency of Interaction with the Resellers and Handling of Resellers\’ Issues. Samsung became the first runner-up in the rally of input devices.
Ranking
1. Logitech
2. Samsung
3. Microsoft
$. Processor
It was a long fight between the two technology players – AMD and Intel, though the latter emerged the clear winner out of the two. Apart from absolute market share, Intel always maintained a healthy relationship with the channel partners and kept constant interaction with them. A relatively smaller competitor, VIA is presently at its preparatory stage to go for the head-to-head battle with the giants.
Ranking
1. Intel
2. AMD
3. VIA
$. Motherboards
Most of the motherboard vendors today are consolidating their market position. Intel once again retained the honour of lifting the VARIndia Trophy for the most admired motherboard company. Product quality and reliability made the channel to go for Intel to be the winner. Asus was well appreciated by the resellers on the points of handling issues and channel interaction. Kobian was placed at third by the channel.
Ranking
1. Intel
2. Asus
3. Kobian
$. Power Management Solution
The UPS market in India is dominated by lots of domestic and international players. It is believed to be the most unorganized market in the industry. In this scenario, APC was the clear winner here, followed by WeP Peripherals. APC led in parameters like Availability, Product Quality & Reliability, Certifications & Training, Vote Factor, etc. Microtek and TVS-E were the channel\’s favourites in some parameters. “WeP UPS is good in quality and vendor representatives coordinates with us often. However, the prices are slightly higher,” said a Nehru Place dealer.
Ranking
1. APC
2. WeP
3. Microtek
$. Networking Product (Indian brand)
The channel showed all its respect to the Networking major, D-Link. It led anonymously over most of the parameters – Product Availability, Post-Sales Support, Pre-Sales & Marketing Support, Respect Shown to the Resellers, Frequency of Interaction and Handling of the Resellers\’ Issues. D-Link has a network of 21 territory distributors, 325 dealers and 3,600 resellers. This strong reseller base reflected on D-Link\’s performance to emerge as the most admired VARIndia Networking company. Chennai-based Dax, a domestic networking vendor, is aggressively setting up a channel network in the north-east and making rapid progress. MRO Tech stood at the third position.
Ranking
1. D-Link
2. Dax
3. MRO Tech
$. Networking Solution
Cisco continues to be the unchallenged leader in the high-end networking solution arena with a dominant market share in India. It topped in two major parameters – Product Quality & Reliability, Certifications & Training, which made the company the VARIndia\’s most admired Networking Solution Company. The company introduced security and manageability features in its products to build self- healing and defending capabilities. Cisco is pushing hard and fast into the SMB sector by introducing entry-level switching modules equipped with advanced VoIP and security features. . Cisco earns most of its revenue from its top Gold and Silver certified partners .The company currently is focussing to build a more strong partner base to scale up its operations. “Although a bit highly priced, Cisco has good quality products and network security becomes a non-issue once you deploy Cisco,” reported an NP dealer. The channel appreciated D-Link for Profitability & Margins, Product Availability, and Post- Sales Support, which pushed the company to be the runner-up. Dax Networks got the channel\’s applause for Price Competitiveness and Timely Payment of Rebates, Respect shown to the Resellers, Frequency of Interaction with Resellers and Handling of the Resellers\’ Issues.
Ranking
1. Cisco
2. D-Link
3. Dax