Invensys invests Rs 10 crore in Powerware

Shipra Arora / New Delhi

Powerware International, the Indian subsidiary of Powerware Corporation, a part of the Development Division of the $11 billion Invensys has recently received an investment of Rs 10 crore from its parent company. The investment, which was made available in July, will be directed towards expanding the company’s service network and channel base, branding exercises as well as increasing localisation of existing products.

Deepak Sharma

According to Deepak Sharma, managing director, Powerware International, the company will also be building infrastructure, which will propel future growth of Powerware in India. The investment will be utilised towards both its UPS and DC power systems business.

According to company sources, the funding indicates Powerware Corporation’s serious commitment to India. "As an emerging market, India is experiencing tremendous growth in information technology. Based on demands created by the rapidly growing computer and communication industries in India we see this as an opportunity to fortify and strengthen our operations to present customers with a one-stop shop and turnkey solutions for their power management needs," Sharma added.

On the manufacturing front, the company will be further strengthening the localisation capabilities of its UPS product line. Powerware, which is presently manufacturing up to 30 KVA UPS systems in the country, is planning to scale its Indian manufacturing capabilities up to 60 KVA by September 2003 and 80 KVA by the end of this year.

Powerware is also planning to expand its channel force over the next one year. The company is planning around 48 power solution partners (PSPs) across 36 cities by March 2004, up from the present strength of 30 PSPs across 22 cities. Till around a year ago Powerware had only seven PSPs. The company’s UPS business channel set-up comprises resellers for up to 1KVA UPS systems. Very high-end systems are sold directly by the company.

The second expansion will come in the area of service support. With Nebula (which has been providing service support to the company) almost winding up its business, Powerware is now building a new service support infrastructure. This will comprise authorised service providers (ASPs). According to Sharma, the company is in the process of appointing ASPs with offices across 43 cities, which will be operational by September this year. The number of ASPs will depend on how many of them are able to provide reach across 43 cities that the company is looking at. In addition to this, the company will continue with the other two tiers of its service network—the PSPs and its own support through the Web and regional offices.

Further on the service support front, Powerware is setting up a repair centre in Delhi for UPS systems, which will provide a broad level of repairs. The first phase of the repair centre for certain models is already up and running. The centre will also house repair and testing facilities for rectifiers of DC power systems, which will be operational in the next three months.

On the branding front, the company is largely investing in direct marketing. However, it will be undertaking advertising activities during the second half of the year. This will be select advertising targeted at specific verticals that the company is targeting.

Powerware is also planning to strengthen its position in the healthcare and government verticals in the UPS business. Presently ITES and telecom are the mainstay of its UPS business in India with almost 50 percent of total revenues coming from these two verticals.