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Cabletron to set up development centre in India

Uday Birje, director, India and SAARC operations, Cabletron, has been reported as saying that a team from Cabletron's US office was in Bombay

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for a feasibility study.

The team is examining various aspects including whether the development centre should be for hardware or software or both. A decision is expected in a month, according to Birje.

"Cabletron is keen to leverage on India's abundant technical manpower pool,'' he said. The company has identified India, China and Japan as focus markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Further, Cabletron is studying the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility in India, he said.

Cabletron, which was recently in the news when it acquired Yago Systems and Digital Network Products Group (DNPG), plans to focus on the manufacturing, telecom and finance sectors in India.

The company, which is working on an India-specific strategy to strengthen its distribution network, plans to appoint more channel partners. "This will help Cabletron improve its reach - particularly in the low-end and mid-range segment and in the government sector including oil refineries,'' Birje said.

Cabletron's channel partners in India are Digital (now a Compaq company), CMC and Network Solutions. The company is working on cashing in on Digital's expertise and experience in the manufacturing segment with clients including Maruti, Daewoo, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian Institute of Science.

Birje confirmed that Digital would continue to be a worldwide reseller of Cabletron products. Interestingly, Cabletron has decided to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific and Europe - markets where Digital is strong.

Cabletron, which will project itself as a "channel-friendly'' company, will ensure that there is no clash of interest among its various channel partners. "Our channel partners are given specific industry segments to handle. For instance, while Digital handles manufacturing, CMC caters to the government sector,'' he said.

"In fact, this is a period of transition for Cabletron which is changing from being a technology-driven company to a market-driven company,'' Birje said.

The company, as part of its initiative to project itself as a market- driven company, is planning a series of seminars with focus on specific industries.

The company, which at present has a liaison office in Bangalore, is looking at obtaining the status of a wholly owned subsidiary.

Cabletron's customer installation base in the software technology parks is "sizeable''. Twenty-four of the 27 companies in International Technology Park Limited, Bangalore, are Cabletron customers.

Overall, Cabletron has an 80 per cent market share in the STPs.

In India, Cabletron, with a market share of 28 per cent, is a leader in the switching segment, according to International Data Corporation figures. Cabletron is in the number two position in India in revenue terms (next to Cisco Systems).

- Compiled from the Indian media

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