Cyber security is the major concern in the era of Digital India journey today. Day to day we hear about news of security breaches for our digital assets. There is huge challenge for security vendors to offer much secured solutions to common man and business establishment in India. Bitdefender aims to help Indian customers by offering latest and innovative security solutions to protect them from any cyber threats. Zakir Hussain Rangwala, Director, BD Software Distribution Pvt. Ltd., is the national distributor for all range of products from Bitdefender in India. In an exclusive talk with DT, Mr. Rangwala shared his overall growth and channel plans.
DT: What have been the crucial milestones of your company during year 2017?
Mr. Zakir: We have settled well in the market and are now becoming choice of many consumers and corporates who are looking to use a better product with value and technologically advanced. We have had a good year as we acquired customers from various industries and semi governments, Universities and colleges and corporate houses. We have increased our reseller base also which is a good sign of progress and as per the plans we have laid out for 2017.
DT: What were the major challenges for your company? How do you fight those challenges?
Mr. Zakir: Biggest challenge was GST implementation and the effects it had on every businesses, the rumours and clarity till GST came into existence, made business slow. Distributors and resellers were busy clearing old stocks and not buying new products, made things go very slow. Another challenge was awareness about security solutions. Being into a very competitive market for antivirus, we were able to educate the customers and resellers about the various features and technology which we offerthrough Bitdefender security solutions. This helped in making our brand recognizable across consumers and corporates.
DT: How GST changed your business affair in year 2017?
Mr. Zakir: GST has changed things and made it easier to follow and understand the system. At the same time it is taxing on the capital one would require to run the business. It means companies who are doing business in proper terms and conditions will prosper, but those who are not following a proper trade practise may find it very difficult to operate. I still feel many companies are still in the period of adjustments and understanding or finding a way they will need to work under the GST.
DT: What's your channel strength currently in India?
Mr. Zakir: After GST, the ways of working and structuring has changed for many including us who are into distribution business. Business does not increase just by adding numbers of resellers in the list. We work with few of them but we make sure to work with the resellers as their partner and equally working towards making business and profits for each other. Our partner base is growing steadily and we have over the period built some good partnership in the market. Our distribution structure is based on the region & needs which change as per the requirements of the channel community and our business process. I don’t think a strict structure policy works now a days and it is time to be flexible in our approach.
DT: How do you assure your customer excellent service support?
Mr. Zakir: We provide after sales support via support team which takes care of POC, pre-sales and post- sales approach. We also work with partners to get their engineers trained and certified by vendors which provide confidence among the engineers to offer quality support to their customers. Our product is used by more than 500 million user base worldwide and is easy to use, whether used by a consumer or a corporate.
