"Beyond is where we begin"

The sun, the sand and the sea in Goa - in short a perfect setting to create or maybe recreate the mood for an ideal engagement and team building. Exploring this invigorating ambience, Adobe organized its Channel Partner Summit titled “Beyond is where we begin” on 5th & 6th September, 2011 at Goa. The mega conclave was aimed at bringing together Adobe's key partners from around the country to share with them the company's channel strategy for the future and delineate its vision on how both Adobe and the channel can work together for joint success.

The event was presided over by Julian Quinn, VP, Adobe Asia Pacific; Umang Bedi, MD - Sales & Marketing, India and SAARC; and Vineet Sood, Director - Channels and Strategic Alliances for South Asia, Adobe.  A jubilant Vineet Sood opened the Summit, emphasizing that the event is all the more special as it coincides with the auspicious week of Ganesh Chaturthi. The company apprised the channel partners and both the parties sought ways to work in tandem to accomplish higher goals. 

Elated at the Summit, Sunil Dalal, MD, Softecell Technologies, who has been an Adobe partner for the last 15 years and is the only Platinum level partner for Adobe in India, expressed, “These events are great for networking and understanding the current state of all the things Adobe deals in. It helps us comprehend the direction the company is heading towards internationally and in India. It helps us review and analyze our approach and make sure we are on the right strategy. While there is a lot of information available on the net and various publications, nothing beats talking directly with senior executives to get a feel of the mood and momentum." He also highlighted that the partner event also gives them an opportunity and platform to meet up with industry peers and share thoughts with them.

Further, Sanjay Prasad, Executive VP & Head - Technology Solutions Group, Acropetal Technologies, shares that these events are extremely beneficial as it showcases plans for the coming year enabling partners to align accordingly. Also, it helps in understanding new technologies that are being launched and how these could add value to the customers.  "At such events, the company does reengineer partner programmes keeping in view of the rapidly- changing business dynamics. Adobe is extremely supportive to its partners and crucial to their success," he informed.

Training is just one of their various initiatives that they run towards this fulfilment. Adobe works closely with partners to impart regular trainings via the partner portal or in-house trainings during new product launches. For instance, during the Acrobat X launch, Adobe conducted training for the partner representatives to give an overview of the new features on Acrobat. They very actively train both their sales and technical resources and are ever willing to run specialized trainings for their teams, as and when required. And, everybody agreed that such events are an added support! 

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Julian Quinn,
VP - Adobe Asia Pacific

“We have been arranging this kind of summits in different parts of the APAC region. We are delighted to organize this event, particularly in Goa. There could be no better locale. These events really help us as it allows us to engage with our partners. Our partners are really critical in terms of our strategic direction. They are crucial to our success. The channel partner summit gives us an opportunity to get feedback from them and understand whether we are aligned with their needs in the marketplace. Our market leadership is not just about technology leadership. Though we have great product line like Acrobat, Photoshop and PDF, it is also about having points of presence and distribution, and distribution involves a whole network of partnerships. So, our continuing strategy is to work very closely with our partners and also to provide new opportunities to them. Over the last two to three years as the business has been challenged by the global economic crisis, Abode has continued to make very bold moves in the market. We are absolute leader in terms of the online marketing suite. We are running software as a service model. Thus, there are more opportunities for the partners."

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Umang Bedi,
MD - Sales & Marketing, India and SAARC

“Adobe is an extremely channel-focussed company and we have been doing this kind of a summit for a while now. However, this particular summit has happened after a three years break. We had a great opportunity to spend time with the channel, hear with them, learn from them, get their feedback and make improvements in the programmes. This is something I would plan to continue on a regular basis every year and rejuvenate our entire programmes. What we have done in this session is that we launched our third-generation partner programme, wherein we are now trying to move to the next level in terms of engagement and deepen our relationships with our existing partners and further intensify our relationship with new partners.

We have laid out a broad framework in terms of our partner ecosystem. We are working on three philosophies. Firstly, we are looking at what could be the right investment strategy in terms of right level of investment from both sides. The second is the level of growth we both are looking at and the third is how we sustain profitability and improve that for our partners. These are the three fundamental pillars on which we have launched a completely new programme that drives and incentivises the right behaviour in our partners for them to stretch and make the extra dollar of revenue.”

For more contact:
Moumita Deb Choudhury
moumita@varindia.com