Sanjiv Krishen, a well-known IT leader since the early 90’s, has always made headlines by achievingimpossible goals during his professional career. After establishing Iris Computers as the backbone of an Indian IT distribution ecosystem, Sanjiv sold the company to Dragon Group, a Singapore based company a few years ago. But the company was not growing as per his expectations under this global leadership. To save his dream company, he bought back Iris Computers in 2017 from Dragon. Within a year after taking charge, the company is doing extremely well again and is on the path to become a leader in the Indian distribution business.
A Dream, Conquered
IT business in the early 90’s was not a common goal like today. Very few people in India showed the courage to establish an IT distribution company, as opportunities were very few. The IT revolution in India was at the initial stage at that time. But Sanjiv had great farsightedness and was aware of its potential. He founded Iris Computers Ltd to offer distribution servicesto larger global brands who were looking for partners to spread their business in the Indian market. “Iris Computers was started in the year 1996 to help IT brands establish their products in India. We helped brands like Compaq, HP, IBM, Acer, Dell and APC to sell their PCs in India. Within a few years of initial challenges, we established ourselves as a key distribution house who had nurtured a huge channel network across India,” says, Sanjiv Krishen, CMD, Iris Computers Ltd.
The dream which Sanjiv saw was conquered finally. Foralmost two decades, Iris Computers remained a leading distribution house in India and had almost all leading ICT brands under its large product offerings. Iris showed consistent business growth for almost 20 years.
Turning Point
Dragon Singapore, a John Sculley company, had acquired controlling stake in Iris Computers through Inflexion Point in the year 2013. Requiring fresh investment for further expansion of the company Iris Computers tied up with Dragon, Singapore for additional limits. However, in September 2016 Dragon closed down in Singapore and was unable to fulfil its obligations. Sanjiv Krishen brought the company back into his hands to save his dream. He bought back Iris Computers in 2017 from Dragon. His key concern was to save Iris employees, to save the Company and build a stronger relationship between brands and resellers. Sanjiv also brought back his old team into action for making a quick breakthrough. Apart from Sanjiv, the original management team of Kamini Talwar, Som Arya, Sameer Chaudhary and Himanshu Chawla laid out the plan to push the growth cycle. The company started grabbing big orders within a few months in their second innings. So, the well-planned strategy worked successfully and the company started recovering lost glory.
Consistent Growth
Describing their journey and growth, Sanjiv Krishen, Founder & CMD, Iris Computers said, “Since 1996, we, at Iris, have thrived on our reputation as a top-notch IT Distributor, with our solutions covering a wide range of IT categories. Driven by a team of highly skilled professionals and supported by a robust infrastructure, we have expanded our footprint in 35+ markets through 27 subsidiary offices. With our revenue at over Rs 1300 Crore FY 2018-19 reflecting a 30% growth over the previous year, we areprojecting to reach Rs 1600 Cr in FY 2020.
Vision by 2020
Iris Computers has already chalked out a strong ‘go to market’ strategy to achieve their set targets. Sanjiv Krishen said, “By 2020, we are planning to deep dive into tier 3 & 4 cities. Our target will be to open more well-equipped warehouses & offices and also to add manpower in many more cities. Apart from adding manpower, we are also very seriously thinking aboutadding some new age product lines, so that we shall be able to give a complete umbrella of IT products.”
They are also focusing on getting into Government business, both direct as well as through GEMs with branded PCs. Some of the ideas already explored and tapped into are:
It is important for Iris Computers to work towards steady and sustainable growth. “To achieve this, IRIS has channelled its energies towards increased profitability and generally running a tighter ship. The months ahead will show even stronger positive results,” concluded Sanjiv Krishen.
