At Axis, we believe in protecting the mid-size business with a complete, end-to-end security and surveillance solution, says Sudhindra Holla, Sales Director, India & SAARC, Axis Communications.
What is your Channel strategy for the country?
Axis Communications is a premium player in the market and our customers and channel partners are well aware of it. While keeping that in mind, we continue to leverage it as part of our brand strategy. We continue to deliver the model of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) that is to look beyond the price. We educate our channel partners on this model and help End Customers make better business decisions. We position Axis as a premium brand, as opposed to our competitors, because of the kind of quality we offer in all our products and its compatibility with other products as well that help design a complete solution which caters to end customer requirements.
[quote font=”tahoma” font_size=”13″ font_style=”italic” color=”#262626″ bgcolor=”#f9f9f9″]“We believe in enhancing the customer experience even before an installation. We believe in experience-based approach over product driven to improve the customer journey.”[/quote]
What is Axis doing for solutions approach for partners & customers?
At Axis, we believe in enhancing the customer experience even before an installation. We believe in experience-based approach over product driven to improve the customer journey. We try to influence customers through our effective proof of concept and share customer references to potential ones for better understanding of Axis Solutions. We believe in providing experience to our end customers and allow them to experience our products and solutions in our regional experience centre, Bangalore. We feel educating channel partners about the Axis tools such as Site designer, Product selector, Axis Design Tool, etc. enhances customer and also increases the productivity of a system integrator.
We also host regular End Customer meets in different cities that create a platform for experience sharing between the potential and existing End Customers. “Word-of- mouth”, is also being used as part of our marketing strategy. Our channel partners are our loyal stakeholders who play a vital role in educating the customers about the benefits that we offer through our products. This acts as a sense of assurance among the potential customers.
Another aspect is, when we get into a tender situation, we are often evaluated based on compliance checklist only and then the contract is awarded to the respective bidder. Our experience in the Network Video market plays a major role while preparing for tendering and we strongly recommend our potential customers for POC. This improves the customer journey as they witness everything before investing or buying the products.
How would you describe your product strategy?
The security market is growing exponentially. Our long-term strategy is to continuously invest on innovative network products and offer intelligent security solutions. In 2016, we invested 17% of our revenue in R&D alone. We quickly identify new trends and meet the market needs while maintaining the quality and service. For instance, we have launched range IP based audio systems for different applications.
Our dedicated focus on R&D has helped us lead the IP security market globally. We are making advances in light sensitivity, colour reproduction and resolution in our network cameras. We are investing on thermal network technology and Zipstream technologies.
We have 100+ camera offering through our ecosystem technology partners for larger enterprises. Furthermore, we offer end to end solutions for Small and Medium enterprises.
Does Axis have any customized solution for medium-to-large enterprises?
At Axis, we believe in protecting the mid-size business with a complete, end-to-end security and surveillance solution. We offer cameras, software and other products that create a security solution designed for the active operator. Our solutions are easy to use and install and they’re designed to work perfectly for schools, retail, manufacturing sites and other mid-size installations. Our products are highly reliable and flexible to install and build their own systems with our Box ready solutions.
Our Camera Station S10 recorder and S20 Appliance is an out-of-the-box ready video management solution with pre-installed AXIS Camera Station software. AXIS Camera Station is intuitive and easy to use, meaning anyone can operate it to find and export high definition evidence. Combined with Axis network cameras it gives you everything you need to confidently monitor your premises. So it’s ready to use straight out of the box.
How would you describe Axis’ go to market strategy for Tier II & III towns?
Some of our go-to-market strategies for securing enterprises are as follows:
- Firstly, we are continuously trying to Integrate IP Audio with current Video installations. To keep up with the current IoT trends, we feel that the Integration of products will cater to a wider market range, in order to add more functionality and clarity to some unforeseen incidents that might occur.
- In terms of Cyber security, we try to educate and create awareness about the necessity of data protection and keep the systems updated regularly, as part of our messaging to avoid data loss. We continuously educate our channel partners and try to mitigate the risks.
- With our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) concept, we give a holistic picture of the entire investment upfront from procuring to deploying and maintenance cost for the next 5-7 years. Usually, the end customers do not foresee the hidden costs while purchasing and installing. They only understand it once they start using it. This is the problem we are trying to solve here. With TCO, we try to educate and give customers the freedom to compare their proposals from different OEMs and this helps to make informed decisions.
- We also try to create awareness, as part of our marketing strategies, that city surveillance is going beyond the analog camera by integrating audios and sensors to it, and how we integrate it in an open way with command and control can make all these different parts work together.
