Dell Inc. DELL -0.03% is battling to reverse its falling market share as it tries to reinvent itself, including through acquisitions outside its traditional hardware business.

Asia is perhaps the biggest battleground for computer makers, including rivals Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ +1.36% and Lenovo Group Ltd., 0992.HK 0.00% as the region’s rapid growth gives them opportunities to experiment with new products.

Texas-based Dell could find its edge following recent turmoil at H-P—including two CEO changes and a proposed, then canceled plan to spin off its PC business. The uncertainty has persuaded some big customers with enormous IT budgets to move over to Dell.

Dell expects the Asian-Pacific region, which now accounts for a quarter of its annual revenue, to maintain its double-digit growth. The New York-listed company is installing local leadership to better understand customers and their culture.

Steve Felice, president for consumer, small and medium business at Dell, spent about five years in Singapore as president for Asia-Pacific and Japan. He tells Gaurav Raghuvanshi how local flavor helps its management team scale up operations.

The following interview has been edited.

WSJ: Did Dell change its products to suit Asian customers?

Mr. Felice: There’s such an emerging middle income in Asia that we found that we had to have different product strategies, different service strategies.

WSJ: But Dell is trying to move up the value chain. Isn’t there a contradiction there?

Mr. Felice: We are returning to a value-products oriented company. At the same time, we’re transforming into a solutions company. But Dell historically had a brand reputation of quality products with an excellent service experience. Those attributes are still relevant in Asia. You might just fulfill them with slightly different products based on the stage of maturity that businesses are running. It’s not just a configuration of hardware. It’s also the services that we offer. And now the enterprise requirements, because in India, in China, in Southeast Asia, there’s a growing need for servers and storage and networking. So, the need for value is really important here.

I think the strategy is working because we’re No. 1 in India deploying this strategy and we’ve really had some great success in China as the No. 2 company. Now we’re seeing very strong growth in many countries in Asia. I think what’s happening is that businesses and individuals, their demands and their needs are rising as they become more and more mature. And so, it really plays well with our strategy of not just delivering the lowest-cost product but really the highest value experience.

WSJ: How important is local leadership here?

Mr. Felice: Dell has really come a long way in Asia to make sure that we are taking advantage of the talent here. When I first came to Asia in 2005, the majority of our leadership were expats. Now, a large majority of our leaders are local. There’s an abundance of talent in Singapore and in many countries throughout Asia.

WSJ: So, now you have a lesser population of expats in this region. How did you do that?

Mr. Felice: It didn’t really take us that long to convert and send all those expats back to the U.S. Listening to our customers, understanding their culture—those are probably the biggest requirements for success. And having local leaders who live and understand that culture is the best approach.

When you have high growth, the No. 1 challenge is to make sure that you’re properly staffed for it and you have leadership that’s scalable. I think we have a fantastic leadership team in Asia and we’ve proven that we have the scalability. Asia’s been growing double digits…In 2005 this business was only 12% of Dell’s revenue. Now it’s about 25%.

WSJ: What challenges does the diversity of Asia-Pacific pose to global firms?

Mr. Felice: One of the things that I quickly learned when I moved here in 2005 is that Asia is not just Asia. It’s India, China, Singapore, Malaysia. I think the challenge is that you’re making sure that you’re listening properly to each of those unique markets. But the opportunity in developing a management style is gaining an appreciation for how to take advantage of diversity. How to get different points of view and how to broaden your perspective.

WSJ: Did you have a tough time in Asia?

Mr. Felice: I didn’t find it very difficult because I enjoyed learning about the differences. But you do have to listen carefully. The challenge is being effective at it. The notion of having this variety makes it fun.

I didn’t find it difficult to embrace the idea that there are different ways of meeting customer requirements, different aspects that their cultures have in their various countries and then applying that to the business. We just had to make sure that we listen and do it that way.

WSJ: Can you give examples of programs that were developed in Asia and taken to other parts of the world?

Mr. Felice: An example is “Caring Manager.” We found that people in Asia really have a strong desire for coaching and developmental feedback. Many of the cultures in Asia are very receptive to “how can I do better.” We had to make sure that our leadership could fulfill that need in order to be inspiring leaders. So, we developed something in Asia that focused on coaching, feedback, career development and integrity. We now use that program globally.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577310962570563448.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Dell, the PC manufacturer, is all set to shed its tag of just being a computer manufacturer. India, one of the fastest-growing markets for the company, will see its integrated play and offering of both hardware and software.

In India, Dell is a $1.5-billion entity. While the company hit a high note when it emerged as the number one player in the PC segment (both laptop and desktop), but with the Perot acquisition in 2010, it also brought its service offerings into India.

“The addresable market for Dell in India and globally has expanded tremendously. Globally, we have a market of $3-trillion opportunity and are a $60-billion company in revenue. In India, we are a $1.5-billion company and the opportunity is just huge,” said Sameer Garde, president, commercial business, Dell, India.
In order to capture the fast growing Indian IT market, Dell wants to create synergies between its PC, server and storage segment with its services offering. To bring in these synergies, the company recently called back Garde to India as the president of commercial business.

“Over the last few years, we have been able to expand our presence. We have built a strong base of customers, especially among the large enterprises, who have favoured Dell for their IT requirement. Almost 50-60 per cent of their business is managed by Dell, it is but natural for us to be able to manage the services related to these businesses. We will leverage the Perot footprint to service India customers,” he added.

A year and a half before, Dell had already set in place a network operation centre (NOC) in Chennai to serve only the Indian clients.

According to Garde, the focus on India is simply because of the growth the region is witnessing. According to the company’s 10-K filing, revenue from BRIC—Brazil, Russia, India and China—increased 15 per cent year-over-year during the fiscal year 2012 and represented 14.2 per cent of their total net revenue for FY2012, compared to 12.3 per cent for the prior year. “We are continuing to expand into these and other emerging countries that represent the vast majority of the world’s population, tailor solutions to meet specific regional needs, and enhance relationships to provide customer choice and flexibility,” said the company’s annual report.

Along with Suresh Vaswani, who heads the services business and is responsible for the BPO and applications business, Garde will be focused on taking the company from being just a PC manufacturer. “We are leading players in the PC and server market in India. In the storage segment, we are at present sixth, but I am confident we will also close the gap there. Our footprint in India, especially in the consumer segment, has expanded into 40-50 cities. We will use this to deliver services and distribution. This was possible earlier too, its just that we did not look at,” he said.

Garde also pointed out that the mid-market segment will be the company’s sweet spot. “Almost 70-75 per cent of our growth has come from outside of top cities, we plan to use these lessons to expand our services portfolio. We believe this will be the growth engine in an emerging market,” said he. He shares that most of the acquisitions the company has done so far have been focused on the mid-market segment.

Dell became a serious player in the services segment after it acquired Perot Systems. The strategy concurs with what some of the global players like IBM, and HP have done in the past. Garde says that unlike others, Dell is committed to its hardware segment.

While the company is focused on increasing its scope among the large players and SME segment, Garde refused to divulge any details on the company’s mobile strategy. According to media reports Dell would be launching its tablet PC with Windows 8, sometime in the second half of this year.

Source:http://business-standard.com/india/news/dell-gearsto-be-more-than-justpc-company/469815/