Dell India confident of meeting '09 target

Dell India’s recently-appointed Country General Manager Sameer Garde is confident that his team will achieve the target of $1 billion by the end of 2009 from $800 million set by Michael Dell, the parent group's chief executive and founder.

The company will soon launch its IT-as-a-Services concept in India targetting small and the medium enterprises. “We will soon be launching this in India. We have acquired a few intellectual properties (IP) in the recent past. We could either give customers modular services, or even an end-to-end solution,” said Garde.

On the recent reports that Dell is selling its manufacturing centres worldwide, Garde said, “We do leverage the advantage that OEMs bring, and so does the industry. It is a part of our strategy as they bring something on the table. Besides we have invested $30 million a year back in India. As far as India is concerned there is clearly no such plans.”

In terms of priorities, Garde is clear that despite the focus on the retail and expanding the channel partners base, direct marketing strategy will be core focus. “When we entered India, cynics said Dell will not be successful to make in-roads with this strategy. But our customers have taken to it and we remain committed to it,” said Garde.

Garde added, “There is a huge task ahead of us to go into the Tier II and III cities and make our products visible.”